Game 75: Phoenix Suns (43-31) @ New Orleans Pelicans (45-29) | Monday | 6:00PM

[SunsRback4Good]

i just do not understand why our offense is so bad in the 4th quarter. This is the quarter I expected us to dominate with the Big 3 along with Gordon coming in to make a bunch of threes. Thus far Gordon has mostly been MIA.

Nice win but still a lot of issues. Why Why Why is Young glued to the bench. He was fantastic when given minutes. I guess passing, rebounding and defense is not a good thing.

Passing, defense and rebounding is frowned upon in Vogul’s system. You must be able to shoot and turn the ball over occasionally to get playing time. That was written in his contract before Vogul took the job.

[Calvin Klein]

Wish we could've finished stronger, but we need to attack like that early every time.

This is on Book. His aggressiveness has been down as of late. Today, he went back to his old ways of attacking early every possession. Good things always happen when he’s aggressive to score. He’s really been hurting the Suns when he looks to Beal and KD to score. I think Book is the best player on the team, he should lead this team every game. He’s in his peak, take charge!


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100%. Book should be the number 1 option.

[Frank Lee]

Said it months ago… The strength of this team, much to our chagrin, is ISOs. We will need eruptions like this to carry us through the playoffs.

[bwgood77]

This is a game where we would've definitely lost if Book had played like he has over the past couple of games. KD didn't really show up, neither did the bench and so that 52 really helped build a good buffer.

I think KD fall back because Book was hot but Beal it's like this man doesn't remember how to play basketball. I know he hit 2 big shots nearing the end of the game but again he's been trash

I feel like Beal has been trying to embrace a new role where he is more of the ballhandler and is looking to distribute more. It's a bit comical because we could have just kept CP3 if that is the role Beal is trying to take. He looks good when he actually attacks the basket and tries to be aggressive.
The last 7 games Beal is averaging under 10 FGA's, but he is averaging 7 assists with 10 points.

More importantly than Paul though is he is a scoring threat and can spread the floor which Paul can't really do anymore.

[bwgood77]

Pelicans (45-30):
Magic (W), Spurs (W), Suns (L), Blazers (W), Kings (L), Warriors (L), Lakers (L)
Pred Finish: 47-32
Kings (43-31):
Clippers (W), Knicks (L), Celtics (L), Nets (W), Thunder (L), Pelicans (W), Suns (L), Blazers (W)
Pred Finish: 47-35
Mavs (45-29):
Warriors (W), Hawks (W), Warriors (L), Rockets (W), Hornets (W), Heat (W), Pistons (W), Thunder (L)
Pred Finish: 51-31
Lakers (42-33):
Raptors (W), Wizards (W), Cavs (W), Wolves (L), Warriors (W), Grizzlies (W), Pelicans (W)
Pred Finish: 47-35
Warriors (40-34):
Mavs (L), Rockets (W), Mavs (W), Jazz (W), Lakers (L), Blazers (W), Pelicans (L) , Jazz (W)
Pred Finish: 45-37

Suns (44-31):
Cavs (W), Timberwolves (W), Pelicans (W), CLippers (L), Clippers (W), Kings (W), Wolves (L)

I think to finish 5th is outof reach, That's Dallas place. Magic win number is 49 with must wins against Kings and Pelicans.
So Suns need to win 3 out 5 against Wolves 2x, Clippers 2x and Cavs.

Very hard task. Anything from 6th to 9th is possible. Sleeper pick are Lakers with an easy schedule

I don't really care if we finish 5th anyway. The Clippers are not playing great now, but I think they will step it up in the playoffs, finally being healthy (for now). Our best matchup would be the Pelicans, since Book goes for 50 in them, but that can't really happen either unless we both end up at 7/8...just for one game.

I really think Denver could be our best matchup. We just play well against them. But Minnesota is a bit more preferable given lack of playoff experience for Edwards and their messiness closing out games as well. I want to avoid the Thunder the most, followed probably by the Clippers. Nuggets would be tough with 4 in Denver, but we won our last 2 there, one without Book I think...though the other without Murray. I'll be interested to see how we play the Wolves and Clips down the stretch.

[Calvin Klein]

It's crazy that the Lakers have been 9th for so long but they have just 1 win less than the 5th place.

[lilfishi22]

It's crazy that the Lakers have been 9th for so long but they have just 1 win less than the 5th place.

They are a bit of a worry now. They're 8-2 in the last 10 and having some big wins against OKC, MIL (x2) and MIN during the month of March. They've had a relatively easy schedule thus far and that will continue until the end of the season so if they take care of business, they could win themselves out of a play-in spot.