Game 8: Portland Trailblazers (5-2) @ Phoenix Suns (6-2) l Friday l 7:00pm l BSAZ

[thamadkant]

Waiting for Ayton to ever rebound

he did, he got 8 rebounds. Pretty decent for someone who guards the perimeter a lot outside the paint area. He's not Val or Nurkic who are known as below average defenders because they cant guard mid range and perimeter like Ayton can.

[SunsRback4Good]

Why is Paul out there if he is going to take 4 shots in 33 min? I understand he had 11 assists but scoring wise he’s becoming unplayable. Should’ve drafted Halliburton to learn from CP3 but even if did he’d be coming off the bench and wasting potential.

[Mulhollanddrive]

There's a reason why Jones wanted Durant we have less players who can win a game on their own than many other teams even Portland.

[SunsRback4Good]

There's a reason why Jones wanted Durant we have less players who can win a game on their own than many other teams even Portland.

Teams like Bucks have Giannis, Jru, Middleton to close out games, Warriors with Klay, Curry, Poole… Celtics with Tatum & Brown, Pels with Ingram, McCollum, Clippers with Kawhi & PG.. am I missing a few more teams?

[Frank Lee]

Bigger stories in this game….

Johnson tweaks his knee and CP is a shadow of himself.

How do the extension talks look now CamJo? Bird in the hand is a very underrated philosophy. he’ll stay home for the upcoming road trip. That will be 10 days rehabbing, and likely best case scenario. If he’s out any longer then we either roll with Craig or forced to add somebody. Chuck Crowder voodooing us. Fragile Cam becoming a thing as we await the diagnosis. I expect full vagueness from the front office.

CP with a 1-4 shooting line? WTF? I don’t care how many assists he has. He can’t continue to be Captain Defer. He’s woeful shot% wise, has had ten or less in 6 of 8 games…. and doesnt seem to look for his bread and butter fade away. He needs to drop twenty next game (at least try) or the slippery slope murmurs will grow louder. With CamPayne hobbling, no time better than the present. Holding back the Rubio lamentation.

[garrick]

https://www.azcentral.com/story/sports/nba/suns/2022/11/04/suns-forward-cam-johnson-out-rest-fridays-game-knee-injury/8272313001/

No update yet on Cam.

In a game where Mikail was largely non existent on offense we really missed his outside shooting. Hoping his injury is just something like a knee sprain and not something major like an ACL injury.

[Saberestar]

In a way we were toying with them but we underestimated them and we couldn't get a W, but I am not worried by this game.

That traveling from Grant was ridiculous. Oh my...

We win tonight and everything will be fine. CP3 is trying to not do too much and it's working pretty well for us, he needs to be ready for April.

Hopefully Cam J is OK and he can be back in less than a couple weeks. But it's true that we need to get a player for Crowder...better sooner than later.

[dremill24]

Lol both my EL team and NBA team lost in such a stupid way on end of game possessions. Booker and his problems with double teams. How do you pass to Bridges in this situation and not to CP3. For a change do some off ball movement to get someone open. Such terrible coaching at end of games. Then this blatant travel for the winner.

Come on now, Booker got doubled and moved it to someone in the middle of the floor at the FT line who had a 4on3 to work with. It was a perfectly reasonable play to make. Not his fault Mikal **** his pants.

[sunsbg]

Lol both my EL team and NBA team lost in such a stupid way on end of game possessions. Booker and his problems with double teams. How do you pass to Bridges in this situation and not to CP3. For a change do some off ball movement to get someone open. Such terrible coaching at end of games. Then this blatant travel for the winner.

Come on now, Booker got doubled and moved it to someone in the middle of the floor at the FT line who had a 4on3 to work with. It was a perfectly reasonable play to make. Not his fault Mikal **** his pants.

I don't know. I guess I have seen the ball passed sideways on double teams much more. Also CP3 was completely open in this instance and I would much rather pass it to him anyway than to Mikal, who had a defender on him. Anyway, Booker handling the ball while CP3 stands in the corner is a non-sense to start with. This is on Monty as well. Put the ball in CP3's hands while Booker and Ayton work on screens and getting open, Mikal cutting to the basket. CP3 is not looking to shoot much since the start of the season, but he used to hit trick shots if required and is much more likely to draw a foul than Book.

[dremill24]

Lol both my EL team and NBA team lost in such a stupid way on end of game possessions. Booker and his problems with double teams. How do you pass to Bridges in this situation and not to CP3. For a change do some off ball movement to get someone open. Such terrible coaching at end of games. Then this blatant travel for the winner.

Come on now, Booker got doubled and moved it to someone in the middle of the floor at the FT line who had a 4on3 to work with. It was a perfectly reasonable play to make. Not his fault Mikal **** his pants.

I don't know. I guess I have seen the ball passed sideways on double teams much more. Also CP3 was completely open in this instance and I would much rather pass it to him anyway than to Mikal, who had a defender on him. Anyway, Booker handling the ball while CP3 stands in the corner is a non-sense to start with. This is on Monty as well. Put the ball in CP3's hands while Booker and Ayton work on screens and getting open, Mikal cutting to the basket. CP3 is not looking to shoot much since the start of the season, but he used to hit trick shots if required and is much more likely to draw a foul than Book.

I definitely agree that it doesnt need to be a completely stagnant iso every time. But even so, this particular one drew two defenders and put us in an advantageous 4on3 in the middle of the floor. Considering it was a live ball possession with no timeout called, thats not too bad in most situations. Mikal just got scared ****...I just dont see how thats Booker's fault in this case.

Giving it to CP at the top while guys run a set off the ball to try to get it to someone closer to the basket is definitely an option. The only downside is that if it doesnt result in a simple pass from CP to Book or someone with a decent look (which is quite common), you're left with CP trying to iso with very little time on the clock. Hes not getting a good shot in that scenario. I agree with trying to mix these up tho. We tend to let way too much time go before trying to do something.

[WeekapaugGroove]

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[Jdiddy701]

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I don’t understand why the NBA releases crap like this. It’s not gonna solve anything. If they want to announce anything, announce fining referees. That’ll start!


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[Saberestar]

The incorrect calls in the L2M report:

-- Keon Johnson should have been called for defensive 3 seconds on Suns' last possession.

-- Mikal Bridges did not travel on his travel call.

-- Jerami Grant did travel on his buzzer beater

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This was a W. ****.

[sunsbg]

Bridges' play looked like 100% a travel especially compared to one they called on Booker 3 point attempt early in the game. Now wonder what gather step made up rule they use to consider this not a travel.

[WeekapaugGroove]

Bridges' play looked like 100% a travel especially compared to one they called on Booker 3 point attempt early in the game. Now wonder what gather step made up rule they use to consider this not a travel.

Yeah I was watching without the sound on and there was a general awkwardness to bridges motion where I didn't question the call real time.

On the grant play I saw the step but figured they never really call that. If anything I thought the clock started a click slow.

All teams/players seem to do it but I **** hate just having your best player stand there and burn the clock. Id prefer to actually get into an offensive play a little earlier in those situations.

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[Saberestar]

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[lilfishi22]

Bridges' play looked like 100% a travel especially compared to one they called on Booker 3 point attempt early in the game. Now wonder what gather step made up rule they use to consider this not a travel.

Yeah I was watching without the sound on and there was a general awkwardness to bridges motion where I didn't question the call real time.

On the grant play I saw the step but figured they never really call that. If anything I thought the clock started a click slow.

All teams/players seem to do it but I **** hate just having your best player stand there and burn the clock. Id prefer to actually get into an offensive play a little earlier in those situations.

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Just having a few days to settle on my thoughts, I'm in agreement with you here.

The Bridges call, I didn't question in real time. It looked like a travel and that's why I didn't really care about it. The Grant travel...it's a tough no-call and it was a mistake but I think most would agree in principle that we don't want refs deciding the game on a last second decision. Could they have called it there? Probably but I would still prefer the game being won by a tough made shot under pressure rather than a call.