Playoffs: Suns @ Nuggets Saturday game thread 4-29-2023- Game 1

[Mainstreet]

Game 1 at Denver is scheduled for 5:30 pm on Saturday and will be televised on TNT.

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[elindholm]

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It's funny to see people boarding an airplane from the tarmac. It's like we've gone back in time 40 years.

 

[AZ Native]

Not from what I've read. And it matters more in a playoff series because there is a cumulative effect on athletes playing in elevation 4,000 ft higher than they are used to. And while you begin acclimating 1 to 3 days after you go up, it takes 9 days to fully acclimate going from Phoenix to Denver.

I had no idea. I wish I had known that when I was in my early 50's and drove the Flagstaff in the early morning, climbed Mount Humphreys (13,992 feet), and drove back the Phoenix the same day. And no I was not in that good of shape. But that cold beer at home tasted mighty good.

 

[AzStevenCal]

I had no idea. I wish I had known that when I was in my early 50's and drove the Flagstaff in the early morning, climbed Mount Humphreys (13,992 feet), and drove back the Phoenix the same day. And no I was not in that good of shape. But that cold beer at home tasted mighty good.

I always thought a day or two was all you'd need to adjust but apparently I was wrong. Growing up I spent a lot of my summers at our cabin in Walker which is higher than Denver and loved hiking in the thin air, there was something so refreshing about it for a valley kid. Never had a problem with the altitude then but I guess there's a big difference between running around the woods and running up and down a basketball court.

 

[AZ Native]

I always thought a day or two was all you'd need to adjust but apparently I was wrong. Growing up I spent a lot of my summers at our cabin in Walker which is higher than Denver and loved hiking in the thin air, there was something so refreshing about it for a valley kid. Never had a problem with the altitude then but I guess there's a big difference between running around the woods and running up and down a basketball court.

It did take me about 7 hours so there's that.

 

[AzStevenCal]

It did take me about 7 hours so there's that.

I just assumed it would have taken even longer but except for ski lifts and such in Germany (the Zugspitze) I've never been up very high. As a kid we'd hike up Spruce Mountain a fair ways and then back to the cabin but I don't think we ever got above 7,000 feet.

 

[Zobaczcie suki]

Good stuff here on what the Suns are trying to do with KD and Book...

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[JCSunsfan]

When you have two players that absolutely demand a double team, everything opens up. The best matchup is the team that has two excellent defenders to matchup. That is the Warriors.

The big question is whether the Suns can outscore Denver. The Suns defense was lacking in round 1.

 

[Bufalay]

I always thought a day or two was all you'd need to adjust but apparently I was wrong. Growing up I spent a lot of my summers at our cabin in Walker which is higher than Denver and loved hiking in the thin air, there was something so refreshing about it for a valley kid. Never had a problem with the altitude then but I guess there's a big difference between running around the woods and running up and down a basketball court.

I never had a problem going up to flagstaff to play basketball when I was in high school. I assumed it was because I was young and in pretty good shape. Or maybe I wasn't playing hard enough.

 

[BirdGangThing]

Good stuff here on what the Suns are trying to do with KD and Book...

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I still think Denver is going to double Booker more than the Clippers did - and I think it results in KD having his best games as a Sun to date

 

[Hoop Head]

I still think Denver is going to double Booker more than the Clippers did - and I think it results in KD having his best games as a Sun to date

I think we'll see the opposite, kind of. We'll see KD doubled a lot and Book will get a lot of single coverage. At least in Denver to start the series.

Denver has some bigger bodies to throw at Booker so they'll be less inclined to double since they'll already have a size advantage on him. That size isn't an advantage against KD though so they'll double him regularly.

I expect more of the same we saw vs the Clippers.

 

[JCSunsfan]

I think we'll see the opposite, kind of. We'll see KD doubled a lot and Book will get a lot of single coverage. At least in Denver to start the series.

Denver has some bigger bodies to throw at Booker so they'll be less inclined to double since they'll already have a size advantage on him. That size isn't an advantage against KD though so they'll double him regularly.

I expect more of the same we saw vs the Clippers.

Who is the best defender on the Denver roster, and between Book and KD, who does that defensive player match up against best? Is it KCP on Booker or Aaron Gordon on KD?

You can't double both of them. So they take their best 1-1 matchup and double the other guy.

 

[Cheesebeef]

The Suns blew the doors off Denver with Ayton running the floor a lot more than usual to make Jokic work and tire. I’m hoping to see a return to that in this series.

Cam Payne was also great in that series two years ago. I’ll never forget one of our explosive runs in Game 2 when he and Craig got out on the break for that massive alley-oop that seemingly ripped the roof off the arena with our fans going bonkers. It was that moment that I thought we were destined to win a title. I was wrong.

But I want to see that energy back from the team AND the fans. They were MANIACS in 2021, but so far they seem a little tepid compared to other games I’m watching where the crowd sounds deafening for entire second half’s. It’s almost like we’ve all been preprogrammed for disaster now.

 

[Bufalay]

The Suns blew the doors off Denver with Ayton running the floor a lot more than usual to make Jokic work and tire. I’m hoping to see a return to that in this series.

Cam Payne was also great in that series two years ago. I’ll never forget one of our explosive runs in Game 2 when he and Craig got out on the break for that massive alley-oop that seemingly ripped the roof off the arena with our fans going bonkers. It was that moment that I thought we were destined to win a title. I was wrong.

But I want to see that energy back from the team AND the fans. They were MANIACS in 2021, but so far they seem a little tepid compared to other games I’m watching where the crowd sounds deafening for entire second half’s. It’s almost like we’ve all been preprogrammed for disaster now.

I think the rich fans weren't around in 2021, but they're back now.

 

[Cheesebeef]

I think the rich fans weren't around in 2021, but they're back now.

Every team has tons of rich fans, though, right? Just doesn’t seem like our arena has been rocking save that ludicrous 3rd Q in Game 5.

 

[Bufalay]

Every team has tons of rich fans, though, right? Just doesn’t seem like our arena has been rocking save that ludicrous 3rd Q in Game 5.

Ya, rich fans in phoenix don't know how to rock.

 

[Phrazbit]

The Suns blew the doors off Denver with Ayton running the floor a lot more than usual to make Jokic work and tire. I’m hoping to see a return to that in this series.

Cam Payne was also great in that series two years ago. I’ll never forget one of our explosive runs in Game 2 when he and Craig got out on the break for that massive alley-oop that seemingly ripped the roof off the arena with our fans going bonkers. It was that moment that I thought we were destined to win a title. I was wrong.

But I want to see that energy back from the team AND the fans. They were MANIACS in 2021, but so far they seem a little tepid compared to other games I’m watching where the crowd sounds deafening for entire second half’s. It’s almost like we’ve all been preprogrammed for disaster now.

I was at game 1 and 5. Game 1 was crazy loud... but got quieter as it became clear we were not going to simply bowl over the Clippers.

Game 5, the crowd was nervous for sure. They got loud for big moments, lots of Booker plays, but there isn't the jubilation that there was in '21.

 

[Chaplin]

Book destroyed KCP two years ago. No reason it can’t happen again.

 

[JCSunsfan]

Book destroyed KCP two years ago. No reason it can’t happen again.

So, they double Book then and leave KD 1 on 1 with Gordon guarding him. That will be interesting.

 

[Ronin]

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[ASUCHRIS]

I was at game 1 and 5. Game 1 was crazy loud... but got quieter as it became clear we were not going to simply bowl over the Clippers.

Game 5, the crowd was nervous for sure. They got loud for big moments, lots of Booker plays, but there isn't the jubilation that there was in '21.

The curse of expectations.

 

[Ronin]

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[Ronin]

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[Ronin]

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[Ronin]

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