Ten Takes From Game 1

[JosiahLee]

1. Cam Johnson is making the most of his minutes. He's shooting over 70% in the playoffs. What a huge offensive lift we have coming off the bench!

2. CP3 is such a freaking closer. Like he's on Mariano Rivera's level right now. He started off 0-4 then went 12-15 to finish the game. Let's not forget he dropped 37 on the Nuggets in the close out game and then 4 on the Clippers in that close out game. Point God is our MVP, period.

3. Ayton has arrived. We'll all come to realize this throughout this playoff run, but man has his transformation been unreal! Tonight was his 4th game with 20 points on 80% shooting in the playoffs. That is the most in a single postseason in the shot clock era.

4. I give credit to Budenholzer for his timely timeouts. I'm pretty sure he took a page out of Tyronn Lue's book as to when to call them against us. Every time we were gaining momentum and the game was slipping away from the Bucks he called a timeout and they responded positively.

5. I love Booker's assertiveness. He's attacking the rim and it's paying off. He was 10-10 from the line tonight. I'm glad to see he's not just settling solely on his mid range jump shot.

6. Seems like we took our foot off the gas early in the 4th when leading by 18. Bucks closed it to 7 and it never should have gotten that close. It's always easier to learn from your mistakes in a win. Hopefully they keep the killer mindset going forward regardless of the score.

7. Home court couldn't be more important. I'm so glad they played hard this season to secure the advantage. According to nba.com teams that win game 1 go on to win the series 76.6% of the time. Getting the early lead in the series is invaluable. We've won game 1 in all four of our series this postseason.

8. How do you think Eric Bledsoe is feeling tonight watching a Suns/Bucks NBA finals? I really hated how he forced his way out of Phoenix. He took the completely opposite approach of Devin Booker. I couldn't be more happy for Book and you've simply got to love his loyalty to this city.

9. Crowder went 0-8. Ouch. But I still love him! I'm pretty sure I read somewhere that he had the best plus/minus of any player on the court tonight at +19. Since he went 0-8 tonight that must mean he's going 7-9 on Thursday and 5-6 from 3 pt range lol

10. One positive to Giannis playing is that hopefully the "asterisk championship" narrative will go away for the Suns. They've earned the right to be in this position. Only 3 more to go!

 

[Krangodnzr]

What I liked about this victory is that the Suns won even though Crowder and Booker were pretty terrible from the field.

The Suns didn't play their A game at all and still had a chance to blow out the Bucks. I find it pretty crazy that many NBA fans aren't taking the Suns seriously.

 

[JCSunsfan]

#2. CP3 is in incredible cardio shape for his age. He also paces himself in the first half. That way, when the other team is fatigued in the 3rd and 4th quarters and a half step slow in D, he can feast.
#3. The last time a player had that combo of scoring, rebounding, and shooting percentage numbers in a finals, was Wilt in 1972.
#8. In your face, Rich Paul.
#9. Crowder went 0-8 but had the highest +/- of the night. Either the stat is meaningless or he was playing some incredible defense. Both.

 

[BigRedRage]

When Crowder is off on his shots, he is WAY off. I love him, his tenacity and his mentality. When he is off, I would like us to just focus on him doing picks, playd D and etc vs continuing to feed him shots.

 

[WhyAlwaysMe]

Good point on Bucks responding well out of timeouts. Bud called some amazing ATO plays. That, and their way above expectation three point shooting, underscores just how poor their offense was in the run of play.

 

[Covert Rain]

#2 I think you can make a case for Ayton being our playoff MVP. His work on the boards has kept us in multiple games and kept other teams from getting a ton of second chance points. Then he has gotten a ton of easy buckets after years of the Suns never getting easy shots. Not to mention that Ayton's screens have been AMAZING setting up Booker/Paul midrange shots. That's on top of Ayton putting up historical playoff numbers in multiple ways. Paul has been MVP like. No disputing that. However, IMO the Suns are not in the finals without CP3, Ayton or Booker. However, IMO Ayton has been our anchor.

 

[CardsFan88]

8. How do you think Eric Bledsoe is feeling tonight watching a Suns/Bucks NBA finals? I really hated how he forced his way out of Phoenix. He took the completely opposite approach of Devin Booker. I couldn't be more happy for Book and you've simply got to love his loyalty to this city.

You must be registered for see images attach

This is a fake account, but I found it hilarious and might be silently close to the truth

 

[Ronin]

#11 DMX’s “X gonna give to ya” got me so pumped up before the game. Bravo ABC Bravo.

 

[Larry Schweikart]

Absolutely right that the Suns didn't play their best game. Not just Crowder, who went 0-for-a dozen, but Bridges and Payne missed some layups.
I noted in the Lakers series (I think) that the Suns had won while missing a lot of layups and sooner or later those fall. Same with Crowder & Bridges. They WILL
be hot on a night and it should produce a really decisive win.

Ayton right now is totally playing within himself. I may have missed it, but I didn't see him take one bad shot (admit my recorder didn't get the entire first half). Can't tell
you how many big men after that pick would think they were open at the 3 point line & chuck it. He is absolutely playing within his role and within his game. The analysts did a great job last night of showing how the Suns have you in that pick and roll. If they drop to defend Ayton, it opens the 12-ft jumper. If they come out and he steps back, it opens the drive. And I am very impressed with both Booker & CP3 immediately getting the switch advantage. Once they get Lopez or even Giannous on them, it's a sure drive. G is a good defender, but not fast enough to stay with Booker or slinky enough to stay with Paul's herky jerky steps.

All in all, Suns are in a terrific place.

 

[Larry Schweikart]

When Crowder is off on his shots, he is WAY off. I love him, his tenacity and his mentality. When he is off, I would like us to just focus on him doing picks, playd D and etc vs continuing to feed him shots.

I think he has to keep shooting. It's the only way to get out of a slump. But putting him on G was a great move. Yeah, G will get points, but he's just too powerful for Booker or Paul. Crowder is athletic enough to stay with him and make him pass the ball---which he did more than once.

Agree, don't see how the Buckpuckies can keep shooting 3s like that, especially Lopez.

 

[JosiahLee]

#2. CP3 is in incredible cardio shape for his age. He also paces himself in the first half. That way, when the other team is fatigued in the 3rd and 4th quarters and a half step slow in D, he can feast.

I never thought about that, but that's brilliant if he strategically saves himself for late in the game.

 

[95pro]

I think the biggest thing we take for granted is CP3 defense. He’s small but you can’t really post him up. He will body you and strip you. Having the pg being more than adequate on defense helps overall team defense as well because there’s no blaring hole that teams can attack us on.

 

[Krangodnzr]

I watched some of the media reactions and I'm shocked at just how much they are STILL underrating the Suns.

It's almost like the Suns were the 6th seed the way they talk about them. They talk about Holiday as if he is on par with Paul. They talk about Middleton like he is on par with Booker.

And even more annoying is that they basically act as if the reason game 1 played out the way it did was that Holiday didn't play his A game. Maybe that's because of the Suns outstanding defense?

The Suns aren't the Hawks; this is probably the best defensive team the Suns have ever fielded! It starts with Bridges on the perimeter and Ayton in the middle. Crowder is a good defender and so is Paul. Booker has improved dramatically. Even the twin Cams aren't bad on defense. Team defense was the reason the Bucks struggled a bit on offense.

On offense the Suns constantly dictate match ups. Brook Lopez is nearly unplayable on the defensive end.

 

[Mainstreet]

I think the biggest thing we take for granted is CP3 defense. He’s small but you can’t really post him up. He will body you and strip you. Having the pg being more than adequate on defense helps overall team defense as well because there’s no blaring hole that teams can attack us on.

I can't count all the times when there is a scramble in the lane when the Suns are playing defense and Chris Paul comes out of there with the ball heading down court.

 

[PhoenixRisingITA]

I watched some of the media reactions and I'm shocked at just how much they are STILL underrating the Suns.

It's almost like the Suns were the 6th seed the way they talk about them. They talk about Holiday as if he is on par with Paul. They talk about Middleton like he is on par with Booker.

And even more annoying is that they basically act as if the reason game 1 played out the way it did was that Holiday didn't play his A game. Maybe that's because of the Suns outstanding defense?

The Suns aren't the Hawks; this is probably the best defensive team the Suns have ever fielded! It starts with Bridges on the perimeter and Ayton in the middle. Crowder is a good defender and so is Paul. Booker has improved dramatically. Even the twin Cams aren't bad on defense. Team defense was the reason the Bucks struggled a bit on offense.

On offense the Suns constantly dictate match ups. Brook Lopez is nearly unplayable on the defensive end.

We are still the underdogs, it seems. From the beginning of the playoffs until now. But our team has to let other people talk and continue to stay focused. Let's keep on winning so that those people will finally understand they were wrong!
Btw, today it's my birthday! A 2-0 lead would be the perfect gift.

 

[Ouchie-Z-Clown]

We are still the underdogs, it seems. From the beginning of the playoffs until now. But our team has to let other people talk and continue to stay focused. Let's keep on winning so that those people will finally understand they were wrong!
Btw, today it's my birthday! A 2-0 lead would be the perfect gift.

It’s cheeses bday too!

 

[Bufalay]

Looking at the match-up boxscores on NBA.com I noticed a few interesting details.

1. Booker was defended by Jrue Holiday 50% of the time that he was on offense (~6 min.). During that Time Booker shot 0/6. He was 8/13 against everyone else.
2. Paul was defended for 4 minutes by Holiday and shot 2/2, with 6 pts and 4 assists.
3. Paul scored 12 points against Lopez!
4. Players guarded by Booker shot 2/13.
5. Players guarded by Crowder shot 10/15.

 

[Muggz]

The only stat I'm interested in is the Suns have beat the Bucks 100% of the time in the Finals.
Lets keep that stat going.

 

[Covert Rain]

Looking at the match-up boxscores on NBA.com I noticed a few interesting details.

1. Booker was defended by Jrue Holiday 50% of the time that he was on offense (~6 min.). During that Time Booker shot 0/6. He was 8/13 against everyone else.
2. Paul was defended for 4 minutes by Holiday and shot 2/2, with 6 pts and 4 assists.
3. Paul scored 12 points against Lopez!
4. Players guarded by Booker shot 2/13.
5. Players guarded by Crowder shot 10/15.

The rumor is the Bucks think that Booker will get his but Paul does the more damage because of his passing. It makes Ayton more dangerous. They want to lock down Paul. Meaning expect to see Holiday on Paul most of the night. That means Booker is going to have to be good tonight getting others involved if Holiday impacts Paul's effectiveness. Also, on the radio they were saying that the Bucks don't plan on fighting over as many screens allowing Paul to switch away from Holiday.

If any of that is true they are daring for Booker to be the one that beats them. Hopefully, Paul can fight through all of that.

 

[Bufalay]

The rumor is they are going to let Booker get his. They want to lock down Paul. Meaning expect to see Holiday on Paul most of the night. That means Booker is going to have to be good tonight getting others involved if Holiday impacts Paul's effectiveness. Also, on the radio they were saying that the Bucks don't plan on fighting over as many screens allowing Paul to switch away from Holiday.

Interesting. Paul did better than Booker did against Holiday.

 

[Covert Rain]

Interesting. Paul did better than Booker did against Holiday.

The thinking there likely is that Paul can kill you multiple ways. Including getting easy hoops for Ayton. If you can lock down Paul that forces Booker to be a better distributer for the night. They don't think Booker is CP3. So by trying to lock up Paul you make Ayton less efficient as well. If true, sounds like they are banking that Booker can score but the Suns will struggle to get others involved.

 

[Muggz]

The rumor is the Bucks think that Booker will get his but Paul does the more damage because of his passing. It makes Ayton more dangerous. They want to lock down Paul. Meaning expect to see Holiday on Paul most of the night. That means Booker is going to have to be good tonight getting others involved if Holiday impacts Paul's effectiveness. Also, on the radio they were saying that the Bucks don't plan on fighting over as many screens allowing Paul to switch away from Holiday.

If any of that is true they are daring for Booker to be the one that beats them. Hopefully, Paul can fight through all of that.

Let them put whoever they want wherever they want. I counter with Cam Payne.
I offer no quarter and demand none.
Suns in 4

 

[Superbone]

I watched some of the media reactions and I'm shocked at just how much they are STILL underrating the Suns.

At this rate, somehow we’ll still be the underdogs even after we win the NBA Championship.

 

[Dr dumas]

What I liked about this victory is that the Suns won even though Crowder and Booker were pretty terrible from the field.

The Suns didn't play their A game at all and still had a chance to blow out the Bucks. I find it pretty crazy that many NBA fans aren't taking the Suns seriously.

It just means that this team is super deep and can win in multiple ways..

 

[95pro]

It’s cheeses bday too!

It was mine too