Playoffs: Suns @ Nuggets Tuesday game thread 5-9-2023 - Game 5

[BirdGangThing]

lmao Stephen A just called Booker the "light skin mamba"

 

[Mainstreet]

lmao Stephen A just called Booker the "light skin mamba"

I think Stephen A. Smith could have left off the skin color reference but I understand why he did it.

He had to make a distinction between Kobe and Booker. Still quite a compliment for a player Devin adores.

 

[TJ]

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Low chance of the devil officiating tomorrow

 

[RON_IN_OC]

angelofthesouth said:
Most impressive about last night is that Ayton played terribly and the Suns still won.


Okey-dokey. The Suns didn't win, and are now down 3-1. And Ayton played terribly.

Ayton didn't play terribly. He got into foul trouble, but made the most out of his time on the court.

 

[TJ]

Ayton was fine last night, but once again, he needs to learn to play well when he’s in foul trouble.

 

[BirdGangThing]

Nuggets did work to be where they are in the League today. Focused on and built around Jokic while keeping the core while letting the team learn and play together which is crucial

Then the Suns come along. With a whole new line up. Very little time playing together. And boom, series is tied 2-2

That's gotta piss Jokic off. Especially with it being the Suns. The same team that sent Denver back to the drawing board.

 

[BirdGangThing]

Gotta love the internet lmao

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[JosiahLee]

This Suns team has an opportunity to do something it hasn’t done in the past…Come back from being down 2 games in a series.

In 2021 we were down 2-1 to the Lakers before going on to win that series. Then we never trailed in the Denver or Clippers series.

Last year we never trailed New Orleans or Dallas before being eliminated.

I think this is yet another huge step they can take as a team to prove they aren’t as soft as previous years teams. Booker seems like he has taken the failures of the past and turned them into motivation for the greatness we are currently experiencing.

 

[Mainstreet]

This Suns team has an opportunity to do something it hasn’t done in the past…Come back from being down 2 games in a series.

In 2021 we were down 2-1 to the Lakers before going on to win that series. Then we never trailed in the Denver or Clippers series.

Last year we never trailed New Orleans or Dallas before being eliminated.

I think this is yet another huge step they can take as a team to prove they aren’t as soft as previous years teams. Booker seems like he has taken the failures of the past and turned them into motivation for the greatness we are currently experiencing.

Yes, they have an opportunity to seize momentum at the right moment.

 

[BirdGangThing]

This Suns team has an opportunity to do something it hasn’t done in the past…Come back from being down 2 games in a series.

In 2021 we were down 2-1 to the Lakers before going on to win that series. Then we never trailed in the Denver or Clippers series.

Last year we never trailed New Orleans or Dallas before being eliminated.

I think this is yet another huge step they can take as a team to prove they aren’t as soft as previous years teams. Booker seems like he has taken the failures of the past and turned them into motivation for the greatness we are currently experiencing.

Suns were down 0-2 against the Lakers when Paul Westphal was coaching if I remember right, we came back to beat them in that series (after "the promise") but it was ages ago

 

[Mainstreet]

Suns were down 0-2 against the Lakers when Paul Westphal was coaching if I remember right, we came back to beat them in that series (after "the promise") but it was ages ago

Paul Westphal's remarks went like this.

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[Dback Jon]

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Low chance of the devil officiating tomorrow

That was my first thought

 

[BirdGangThing]

Paul Westphal's remarks went like this.

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oh damn I forgot it was a best of 5 series! that's even crazier

 

[RON_IN_OC]

Suns were down 0-2 against the Lakers when Paul Westphal was coaching if I remember right, we came back to beat them in that series (after "the promise") but it was ages ago

Oliver Miller went nuts the next 3 games and was pivotal in helping win that series.

 

[JosiahLee]

Suns were down 0-2 against the Lakers when Paul Westphal was coaching if I remember right, we came back to beat them in that series (after "the promise") but it was ages ago

Yeah I’m talking about this iteration of the team that includes Booker.

 

[DJ Tabooh]

Please explain more about the Nuggets' weaknesses, though I have a good idea already what they were. I have the impression now that the Nuggets are arguably not much deeper than the Suns offensively. They are over-reliant on Jokic. And Murray can be contained.

The Nuggets had the 2nd best offensive rating in the league behind Sacramento during the regular season. However, defensively they were middle of the pack.

As we’ve seen, they get lackadaisical in their coverages and let players/teams get into a rhythm. Can they defend? Yes. Is it something they do consistently? As we’ve seen in this series, no.

In regards to Murray, he had 28 last night but only one three-pointer. Nuggets only got up 22 threes for the game. Suns got up 29. Usually those numbers have gone against us for being a midrange team.

Gotta live with them shooting tough two’s versus three’s so we have a shot to win game 5

 

[JosiahLee]

I saw a report CP3 had a chance to return for game 6.

 

[95pro]

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Low chance of the devil officiating tomorrow

Does this mean he's headed to Denver for our game 5?

 

[TJ]

Does this mean he's headed to Denver for our game 5?

Doubt it. I dont think these guys work back to backs

 

[JCSunsfan]

I feel like the winner of this game will win the series.

This is usually the case with game 5

 

[BirdGangThing]

I saw a report CP3 had a chance to return for game 6.

I think Monty might have to have a tough conversation with CP3 should that be the case - and I hope CP3 would be able to accept it

 

[JCSunsfan]

angelofthesouth said:
Most impressive about last night is that Ayton played terribly and the Suns still won.


Okey-dokey. The Suns didn't win, and are now down 3-1. And Ayton played terribly.

Ayton played a tough aggressive game. It did not show up on the stats sheets, but I was happy with what I saw out of him.

 

[Cheesewater]

Does this mean he's headed to Denver for our game 5?

Suns should just hold out CP until the refs are announced for each game.

 

[DJ Tabooh]

Thanks. Well, their O-rating may be great, but I mean their scoring load. Theirs is almost all Murray and Jokic.

Well Jokic and Murray took 55 of their 89 shots. The rest of the team shot 17/34 (50%) but we limited MPJ and Aaron Gordon. Suns defense wasn’t bad per se, Jokic just went off but we still won. Game 5 is gonna be a doozy

 

[JCSunsfan]

I think Monty might have to have a tough conversation with CP3 should that be the case - and I hope CP3 would be able to accept it

I bring CP3 off the bench and then run him as a shooting guard. Point Book for the fast break, and then if they end up in the half court, let CP3 run the offense.

He has to go hard for a few minutes and then rest. CP3 is a smart basketball player. We all see this. He sees it too sitting on the bench.