Playoffs: Suns @ Clippers Thursday game thread 4-20-2023 - Game 3

[82CardsGrad]

Are you punking us with this post? Passive aggression is off the charts here, with a little bit of "told you so" thrown in for good measure.

Can someone please explain why the sky is falling for half the board? KD isn't good enough, we need Saban Lee, Booker is too tired from too many minutes, our bench is going to lose us this series, etc.

You seem so quick to jump to hysteria…
Speaking for myself, I am questioning this version of KD, period. As the trade was sold, loudly, as getting him made the Suns the favorite to win it all.
I totally get the ankle injury set him back and the chemistry with the team suffered.
But there is no question that this version of KD, with this team, is not the favorite to win it all and, IMHO, will be very lucky to make it to the conference championship.

 

[82CardsGrad]

A guy getting 11 FTs is a GOOD thing. That means he’s pushing the action and getting other team in the penalty.

I don’t disagree.

 

[82CardsGrad]

Scoring from the free throw line can be some of the best points because drawing fouls gets the other team and players in foul trouble.

It helps everyone.

Again, I don’t disagree.

 

[DJ Tabooh]

Clippers are by far our hardest matchup in the west and likely our most physical, which may be why we look like college players out there so far.
I'm not worried about the Nuggets, Sac or GSW at all, Booker can stomp those teams w/o KD and they would have to hit 70% from 3 to keep up.

Bottom line is no one can guard Booker AND KD, you put your best defensive players on them and PRAY!
Sure our bench is SUS but to be fair when has Monte ever looked to the bench for anything other than resting a starter.

Idk if you’ve watched Denver, but Booker by himself isn’t beating the Nuggets. I would actually favor the Nuggets in the series and we would need Herculean efforts from both KD and Book to win that series.

Jamal Murray is back to his old self. And Jokic is still a machine that would abuse Ayton. I’ll never doubt Book’s effort because he’s playing at an extremely high level. But this doesn’t feel sustainable for a championship run if he has to do all that just to beat a decimated Clips team by 5.

 

[Absolute Zero]

45/6/3 > 27/7/7 right? KD was brought in to be the man and he has been secondary to Booker. I seem to recall talk of how Booker won't need to go hero mode to carry us to wins in the postseason because KD is a legit superstar who will take over. Has that happened yet?

Right, but it depends on who is getting doubled. KD has been the one getting doubled, so he finds the open man. Booker has been benefiting tremendously. Its a good thing, not a deficiency in KD's game, he is playing team basketball the way it is supposed to be played.

 

[Covert Rain]

I simply responded to a post which completely dismissed the idea KD has played a secondary role as some sort of joke or overreaction. Nowhere did I say "I told you so". Isn't it ok to feel a bit worried about what we've seen so far from this team? I guess not.

KD was supposed to play a secondary role. He was supposed to give us a consistent secondary scorer and help alleviate constant double teams every play on Book.

KD isn’t the problem. The bench, CP3 and Ayton are reasons to worry.

 

[Dr dumas]

Even with 12/11 this was one of the worst Ayton playoff games I can remember. His hands have been the worst I’ve ever seen from him this entire series. Shooting 4/8 at the free throw line and letting everyone score on him however they wanted. The clippers just pulled down his pants and made him their

Serious question: Is this the KD you expected? Did you expect that with KD, the Suns would struggle to the end to beat a team of Westbrook and a bunch of back-ups (Zubac played just 22 mins last night)?
KD had 28 against that line-up, 11 of which came from FT’s.
I dunno… is it “good!” Yea… it is. But is it KD good? I don’t see it.

It’s not all about the numbers with KD. He is allowing book to play one on one a ton of plays..

 

[Mainstreet]

You seem so quick to jump to hysteria…
Speaking for myself, I am questioning this version of KD, period. As the trade was sold, loudly, as getting him made the Suns the favorite to win it all.
I totally get the ankle injury set him back and the chemistry with the team suffered.
But there is no question that this version of KD, with this team, is not the favorite to win it all and, IMHO, will be very lucky to make it to the conference championship.

Kevin Durant has only played 11 games with the Suns. Hopefully the Suns will continue to improve.

It's amazing how quickly he has adapted to the other players and game plan.

My concerns are primarily two things: 1) getting and keeping everyone healthy and 2) finding some combination of bench players that can produce.

 

[Phrazbit]

I said it during the game threads -- Monty's gameplans appear unchanged since the trade. We're still running the same stuff as we did with Mikal (the double teams are what is freeing up Book to go nuts, not the play calling).

I just can't fathom why Monty didn't change up his gameplans to a) accommodate a top 10 all time player, and b) change up his gameplans simply because it's the playoffs. We're doing the same things we were doing in Game #5 in November.

Simply not true.

KD is bringing the ball up frequently, KD is almost never using off ball screens, while Bridges plays were almost exclusively based on off ball movement. KD is only going to the corner when Booker runs an iso play while Bridges lived there.

They are not being used alike at all.

 

[Vacard]

Idk if you’ve watched Denver, but Booker by himself isn’t beating the Nuggets. I would actually favor the Nuggets in the series and we would need Herculean efforts from both KD and Book to win that series.

Jamal Murray is back to his old self. And Jokic is still a machine that would abuse Ayton. I’ll never doubt Book’s effort because he’s playing at an extremely high level. But this doesn’t feel sustainable for a championship run if he has to do all that just to beat a decimated Clips team by 5.

Denver is fool’s gold and the Wolves are trash. KAT is horrible. From top to bottom, the Suns can hold with Denver but they need to play Defense on Joker and Murray. And Ayton needs to get back to his finals - self.

It’s Sac town that will be a horrible matchup for this team

 

[Chaplin]

Simply not true.

KD is bringing the ball up frequently, KD is almost never using off ball screens, while Bridges plays were almost exclusively based on off ball movement. KD is only going to the corner when Booker runs an iso play while Bridges lived there.

They are not being used alike at all.

Agree to vehemently disagree.

 

[Superbone]

Monty is trying very hard to improve the Suns 10-1 record with Kevin Durant.

I would hope so. I hope he's trying to win every game whether Durant is playing or not.

 

[82CardsGrad]

The bench, CP3 and Ayton are reasons to worry.

Now THAT we can agree on!

 

[DJ Tabooh]

Denver is fool’s gold and the Wolves are trash. KAT is horrible. From top to bottom, the Suns can hold with Denver but they need to play Defense on Joker and Murray. And Ayton needs to get back to his finals - self.

It’s Sac town that will be a horrible matchup for this team

Denver’s offense is top 3 in the league but their defense is a bit inconsistent. I’m not saying Suns can’t compete with Denver but without HCA, it’s going to be a tough, hard fought series.

 

[Dr. Jones]

My notes after a rewatch:

Book is the Greatest Sun of all time. I'm not sure it can be debated anymore.

Ayton looks like hot garbage on defense when you compare him to our finals run. I literally hate his energy and have no idea how to keep this guy engaged. We will not win the chip with this Ayton. It's a joke.

CP3 is a shell of his former self. We need Payne playing very well to give him more rest. this version of Cp3 cant play this many minutes.

KD trips stumbles and still scores 25 points. He is starting to get visibly frustrated at DA sometimes.


We need to get a lot better because this version of our team isn't winning the title. I hope we find some cohesion soon but nothing will matter if this is the level DA plans on playing at. Ayton's defense is the single most critical role he plays on this team and he isn't even raising his hands all the time when Powell is in the lane. WTH do you call that crap?

 

[elindholm]

My notes after a rewatch:

Book is the Greatest Sun of all time. I'm not sure it can be debated anymore.

He needs at least one more WCF appearance. Otherwise, I agree with you.

 

[Dr. Jones]

He needs at least one more WCF appearance. Otherwise, I agree with you.

His individual playoff performances are just so majestic.

I personally think he's the best player in the playoffs so far this year. And absolute force on both ends of the floor. It's actually so great I am worried for soft tissue injuries in his legs.

 

[Mainstreet]

My notes after a rewatch:

Book is the Greatest Sun of all time. I'm not sure it can be debated anymore.

Ayton looks like hot garbage on defense when you compare him to our finals run. I literally hate his energy and have no idea how to keep this guy engaged. We will not win the chip with this Ayton. It's a joke.

CP3 is a shell of his former self. We need Payne playing very well to give him more rest. this version of Cp3 cant play this many minutes.

KD trips stumbles and still scores 25 points. He is starting to get visibly frustrated at DA sometimes.


We need to get a lot better because this version of our team isn't winning the title. I hope we find some cohesion soon but nothing will matter if this is the level DA plans on playing at. Ayton's defense is the single most critical role he plays on this team and he isn't even raising his hands all the time when Powell is in the lane. WTH do you call that crap?

All the Clippers had to do to score was drive the ball to the basket to score. The defense was embarrassing bad.

 

[Phrazbit]

Agree to vehemently disagree.

2023 Playoff Heatmap Of Shots By Kevin Durant | StatMuse

Kevin Durant has shot 51.0% (25/49) overall and 28.6% (4/14) from three in 3 games in the 2023 Western Conference First Round. (Shot Chart)

www.statmuse.com

2022 Playoff Heatmap Of Shots By Mikal Bridges | StatMuse

Mikal Bridges shot 47.8% (66/138) overall and 39.4% (13/33) from three in 13 games in the 2022 playoffs. (Shot Chart)

www.statmuse.com

Most of Bridges scoring as a Sun was at the rim, the vast majority of his threes were in the corners. Those are the 2 areas Durant is shooting least from.

They are not being used the same at all.

 

[SirStefan32]

Well… it was really 17 points on those 15 shots. 11 of his 28 came from the free throw line.

I don't understand your point? You get fouled, you go to the line. Do we count KD's points differently than everyone else's?
Mind you, 17 points on 15 shots is still really good.

 

[JCSunsfan]

I don't understand your point? You get fouled, you go to the line. Do we count KD's points differently than everyone else's?
Mind you, 17 points on 15 shots is still really good.

Ha. That is so funny. You are right.

Sunsfans-"We need a player who can get to the line consistently.

Sunsfans--"Oh, those points at the line doing really count toward evaluating efficiency"

 

[82CardsGrad]

I don't understand your point? You get fouled, you go to the line. Do we count KD's points differently than everyone else's?
Mind you, 17 points on 15 shots is still really good.

I was just responding to the portion of your post where you said he dropped 28 points on 15 shots. My point is that those 15 shots produced 17 points. That’s all…

 

[82CardsGrad]

Ha. That is so funny. You are right.

Sunsfans-"We need a player who can get to the line consistently.

Sunsfans--"Oh, those points at the line doing really count toward evaluating efficiency"

That’s not what I said…

 

[AzStevenCal]

I was just responding to the portion of your post where you said he dropped 28 points on 15 shots. My point is that those 15 shots produced 17 points. That’s all…

Fair enough but that's how that's always presented. And besides the obvious, I think having a player that can draw referee attention to that degree helps every other player on the team. I mean, we went to the line 37 times in that second half, before KD we've had plenty of back to back games where we didn't total 37 free throws.

 

[Superbone]

I see. Tonight was not normal. Somebody screwed up majorly. Where I am, all Lakers and Clipper games on NBATV are blacked out but then they are on Spectrum and Bally respectively. Tonight NBATV AND the Clippers Bally station were blacked out.

I was able to get a $20 credit on my bill. According to the rep, the NBATV broadcast wasn’t supposed to be blacked out in my area. He says the national networks get precedent in the playoffs.