Playoffs: Nuggets @ Suns Friday game thread 5-5-2023 - Game 3

[Covert Rain]

You know what your right

12/31 amazing tonight what am I even talking about

No…you are right. 39, all of the Suns free throws except 2, 9 rebounds and 8 assists just didn’t matter at all.

 

[Proximo]

Im not worried about Durant’s shooting. He’s one of the best players in NBA history. He’ll figure it out. Im more worried about Monty getting flexed on again

I wasn't worried about it - but he hasn't had a good game for his standard the entire playoffs. At some point you have to wonder if it's going to happen.

 

[GatorAZ]

If Booker got any kind of calls and got to the line he would of got 60

Booker is a superstar but the refs hate him because he constantly complains even during amazing performances. He’s got to let it go.

 

[AZ Native]

Getting 16 free throw attempts is incredible, drawing all those fouls has value beyond the points scored from them. And making 14 of them is great. But shooting 12 for 31 is a very bad night. I don't know how to grade the good against the bad there but I'd disagree with anyone who said he had a good night or a bad night. We don't win without him but the KD we traded for should have made this an easy win for us.

I can agree with that. But great players can make an impact even if they did not shoot well from the field. Booker is playing at another level.

 

[Covert Rain]

I wasn't worried about it - but he hasn't had a good game for his standard the entire playoffs. At some point you have to wonder if it's going to happen.

To be fair, his standard is unusual. A very good Durant is still better than most guys in the playoffs right now. Look at his numbers and the combo numbers of Durant/Book compared to other duos. His standards though? I will give you that.

 

[AzCardsfan76]

Booker has the most points through 8 games, 295 since 1990, Jordan had 325.

Let that sink in….

 

[clyde2tw]

Very crucial positive signs, Payne, Warren, Ross all played fine enough, although their shooting touch is still below normal, but their defensive energy and awareness were there. We ought to keep playing them more. If two of them were to shoot normal, we'd be fine. Shamet played a little too long and had the worst +/-, his shot still not there. KD has the 2nd highest +/- with 11, so keep shooting whatsoever.

 

[Finito]

Im not worried about Durant’s shooting. He’s one of the best players in NBA history. He’ll figure it out. Im more worried about Monty getting flexed on again

History says eventually they’ll start falling

But people are acting crazy like saying he needs to shoot better is ridiculous.

I think he’s going to break out and when he does it’s over. Suns in 6

 

[Mainstreet]

Devin Booker shot 20-25 from the field, that's 80%.

 

[Austin Zonie]

The team ignores Ayton on offense. Booker won’t look his way, even when Ayton puts himself in position to shoot a high percentage shot.

Teammates don’t trust Ayton. Without CP3 feeding him the ball on pick and rolls, he’s useless on offense.

 

[TJ]

A big problem with Ayton is he doesn't fight for position under the basket and ends up watching the action.

He could do so much more if he fought to establish position and blocked out on rebounds.

In fairness, he started doing that towards the end of the season and started racking up cheap fouls. I think he course corrected too much

 

[Hoop Head]

I don't know what you do about Ain'tin. They are going to need contributions from him at some point if they are seriously trying to run the table. He seemed like actually straight up quit tonight.

I thought one upside of facing Denver is Ayton plays well against Jokic so his trade value should be at it's peak if our season ends. That hasn't happened, at all. Ayton has been a no show and he's doing so on a national stage. His trade value is going to bottom out.

Maybe we call in a favor from Ainge and ask him to find a 3 way deal where some sucker gets Ayton and Utah gets cash.

 

[GatorAZ]

Typical Suns playoff game:

Booker was amazing
KD played mediocre but put up great numbers
Ayton was atrocious
Payne was okay but his performance will get overhyped
Bench was the bench

KD is so good if he just shoots 50% from the field we’ll win this series. I just don’t think he’s the guy anymore though. Idk how the Warren shots were falling they looked worse than me at the Y.

 

[Finito]

No…you are right. 39, all of the Suns free throws except 2, 9 rebounds and 8 assists just didn’t matter at all.

NOBODY IS SAYING THAT

Jesus ******* Christ, get out of your damn feelings. Dude shooting like that is not good and it’s ok to acknowledge it. Nobody is ******* saying free throws don’t matter nobody is ******* saying rebounds and assist don’t matter.

**** man.

 

[95pro]

The team ignores Ayton on offense. Booker won’t look his way, even when Ayton puts himself in position to shoot a high percentage shot.

But even when Ayton is as tall as he is he’ll miss a layup that should have been a dunk.

 

[Covert Rain]

Phoenix Suns are the only team with 2 players in the Top 10 in PPG (Booker #2, Durant #6).

 

[Germz249]

Some final stats.

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Jokic's numbers are insane..

 

[Finito]

A big problem with Ayton is he doesn't fight for position under the basket and ends up watching the action.

He could do so much more if he fought to establish position and blocked out on rebounds.

He’s quit.

 

[Covert Rain]

NOBODY IS SAYING THAT

Jesus ******* Christ, get out of your damn feelings. Dude shooting like that is not good and it’s ok to acknowledge it. Nobody is ******* saying free throws don’t matter nobody is ******* saying rebounds and assist don’t matter.

**** man.

Nobody was saying that he is shooting lights out either but you keep saying it. Just stop. You are being ridiculous and being hypocritical.

 

[TJ]

The team ignores Ayton on offense. Booker won’t look his way, even when Ayton puts himself in position to shoot a high percentage shot.

I’ve said on here for a very long time that Ayton and the Suns have two very different perspectives on how he should be utilized. Tonight Ayton was not even in the game plan. I thought he did well with the off the ball stuff in the first half, but in the second, He became DeYawnDre Ain’t it (read this somewhere, dont credit me)

 

[Austin Zonie]

But even when Ayton is as tall as he is he’ll miss a layup that should have been a dunk.

Agree. He’s lost the trust of his teammates.

 

[95pro]

Jokic's numbers are insane..

Book 20 for 25 is insane

 

[Finito]

But even when Ayton is as tall as he is he’ll miss a layup that should have been a dunk.

This just isn’t true. He’s proven over the last 3 years to be insanely efficient on offense. He’s an automatic as anyone.

However he’s quit now

 

[95pro]

This just isn’t true. He’s proven over the last 3 years to be insanely efficient on offense. He’s an automatic as anyone.

However he’s quit now

Did I talk about efficiency? I’m talking about slamming that ball through that hoop.

 

[TJ]

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This is about to get toxic again