Game 14: Golden State Warriors (6-8) @ Phoenix Suns (8-5) l Wednesday l 8:00pm l ESPN

[Puff]

Phenomenal game from Payne...29 pts, 6-10 from 3, to the line 6x making 5, 7 assists.

Monster game from Bridges too with 23 including 5 3s on 8 attempts 9 ast, 9 reb

And Booker continues to grow up before our eyes. I love seeing the 9 assists, 9 free throws, and a few less FGA than usual allowing others to all step up and really get involved.

This type of team ball is crazy.

It's remarkable that we are missing Crowder from last year and then CP3 (would have thought was an enormous loss) and Cam (pretty big loss) and we are here crushing the defending champs for the 2nd time.

Maybe it is time to stop calling Monty a horrible coach and James Jones a horrible GM.

I really like the bench James put together over the summer and like how Monty doesn't complain about missing 3 out of 5 starters. All he does is get them ready to play and they play hard for him. I think that Craig is doing a great job in relief of both Crowder and Johnson. His energy has been off the charts. We never had the rebounding effort that he puts in with either Crowder or Johnson.

If Ayton ever gets it together, we could become the team to beat. If he doesn't, he may be gone by the trade deadline.

[BobbieL]

Phenomenal game from Payne...29 pts, 6-10 from 3, to the line 6x making 5, 7 assists.

Monster game from Bridges too with 23 including 5 3s on 8 attempts 9 ast, 9 reb

And Booker continues to grow up before our eyes. I love seeing the 9 assists, 9 free throws, and a few less FGA than usual allowing others to all step up and really get involved.

This type of team ball is crazy.

It's remarkable that we are missing Crowder from last year and then CP3 (would have thought was an enormous loss) and Cam (pretty big loss) and we are here crushing the defending champs for the 2nd time.

Don't sleep on the productivity of Craig. He's been balling out lately and is an entirely different player than last season.

I have always thought Craig could be used as a trade chip - but the way he is playing - it would truly have to be the right deal to include him at this point

Craig and Lee are brining big time minutes

Klay is looking older
Green needs to be a faciliator - and if Klay and Poole aren't making his shots - that kind of doesn't show his contributions

[sasquatchBob]

Cam Payne is a much better player when starting. This has been proven in previous years with CP3 out. Why does his production drop off so much when coming from the bench? Maybe we have a wrong type of player as SG on the bench. Im starting to think he needs another combo guard like player next to him. He always does very well with Booker. I would like to see him and Washington playing together from the bench. Maybe it unlocks him...

[bwgood77]

Phenomenal game from Payne...29 pts, 6-10 from 3, to the line 6x making 5, 7 assists.

Monster game from Bridges too with 23 including 5 3s on 8 attempts 9 ast, 9 reb

And Booker continues to grow up before our eyes. I love seeing the 9 assists, 9 free throws, and a few less FGA than usual allowing others to all step up and really get involved.

This type of team ball is crazy.

It's remarkable that we are missing Crowder from last year and then CP3 (would have thought was an enormous loss) and Cam (pretty big loss) and we are here crushing the defending champs for the 2nd time.

Maybe it is time to stop calling Monty a horrible coach and James Jones a horrible GM.

I really like the bench James put together over the summer and like how Monty doesn't complain about missing 3 out of 5 starters. All he does is get them ready to play and they play hard for him. I think that Craig is doing a great job in relief of both Crowder and Johnson. His energy has been off the charts. We never had the rebounding effort that he puts in with either Crowder or Johnson.

If Ayton ever gets it together, we could become the team to beat. If he doesn't, he may be gone by the trade deadline.

Ayton looked bad, but I do wonder when we have played so many great games, how much he helps the team in ways that don't show up in the box score, because you really at this point have him, Bridges, and Payne who has mostly been kind of off until last night (though I really like Payne). Craig has really only given much the last two games.

What i mean is I'm sure if people watch closely they will see that while Ayton may have turnovers, he often pulls 2-3 defenders, especially when he has those strong starts, which really allows others to get open. After the first quarter several defenders on our wings will cheat big time off of their wings to be able to deny a pass or get to him immediately if he got one. I'm not saying for sure it helps a lot with our winning, but we are so shorthanded that you would think a couple really good players wouldn't be quite enough to be beating a lot of teams fairly decisively. Of course we did have one bad loss to Orlando.

[bwgood77]

Cam Payne is a much better player when starting. This has been proven in previous years with CP3 out. Why does his production drop off so much when coming from the bench? Maybe we have a wrong type of player as SG on the bench. Im starting to think he needs another combo guard like player next to him. He always does very well with Booker. I would like to see him and Washington playing together from the bench. Maybe it unlocks him...

I think in part he plays with worse players, and secondly, he actually played very well with a stretch 5 in Saric 2 years ago and in the bubble because he drives to the rim (even though he has trouble finishing often, in part because our 3 pt shooters struggle so defenders cave), but it was harder last year with McGee who had very limited range, so a the defensive big on McGee would always be in the lane, blocking his ability to drive instead of having to defend our C out at the 3 pt line, allowing an open lane for Payne.

[flagstaff]

This was a nice team effort. Maybe they need to wear these jerseys more often, eh?

No....

[sunsbg]

Not as interesting as Heat game because of the worse defense played by both teams, but a win is a win. Up tempo game suits well our wings, Ayton not so much. That's why I see DA's value mostly in the playoffs.

Payne indeed playing a lot better with the starters as usual. No more of his patented stepping out of bounds as a reserve.

[Qwigglez]

I'm more interested to know if Mikal Bridges can continue his aggressive behavior than what Payne did. He scored 31 on the Wolves a bit over a week ago, and then he scored 23 on the Warriors. He only took 11 shots, which is about his average for the season, but he took 8 3s, and I think he needs to take between 6-8 3s a game. I think it would open up his ability to drive more too since defenders would likely play him tighter on the perimeter. Also, if you can't tell Bridges has been asked to create more, he's currently averaging 3.5 assists after last night's game, and he's averaging 5.4 rebounds per game, both are career highs. He is averaging close to 3 FTA's per game too, again a career high. I'm hoping Bridges will continue to step up and this is barely a glimpse of what he is going to do in the future.

[lilfishi22]

Hope Mikal keeps it up but history shows he'll have a couple of pretty quiet nights offensively before he has another big one. On that point, Mikal is the Suns #2 scorer at 16ppg.

[Revived]

Not as interesting as Heat game because of the worse defense played by both teams, but a win is a win. Up tempo game suits well our wings, Ayton not so much. That's why I see DA's value mostly in the playoffs.

Payne indeed playing a lot better with the starters as usual. No more of his patented stepping out of bounds as a reserve.

You did see Steph freaking Curry clamping him up in the post right…?

[sunsbg]

Not as interesting as Heat game because of the worse defense played by both teams, but a win is a win. Up tempo game suits well our wings, Ayton not so much. That's why I see DA's value mostly in the playoffs.

Payne indeed playing a lot better with the starters as usual. No more of his patented stepping out of bounds as a reserve.

You did see Steph freaking Curry clamping him up in the post right…?

Guess I missed it. Typical for you to make something sensational out of nothing. I also guess you think Ayton was bad in the playoffs during the finals run.

[Revived]

Not as interesting as Heat game because of the worse defense played by both teams, but a win is a win. Up tempo game suits well our wings, Ayton not so much. That's why I see DA's value mostly in the playoffs.

Payne indeed playing a lot better with the starters as usual. No more of his patented stepping out of bounds as a reserve.

You did see Steph freaking Curry clamping him up in the post right…?

Guess I missed it. Typical for you to make something sensational out of nothing. I also guess you think Ayton was bad in the playoffs during the finals run.

No but he definitely wasn’t anything special last year. Listen man, I call a spade a spade when I see it. I don’t like any one player blindly. You can see the gameday thread against the Heat, I was looking out for you boy in there. And I already told you, I was a bigger Ayton fan than 99% of this board (including you) after he came back from his suspension in the bubble season and then the year after that. But I liked him then because he was playing hard and playing well all around then.

And yeah, not a good luck for a 7ft 250lb max C to get clamped by Steph Curry one on one in the paint

He did have one play later in the same QTR I think where Booker found him on a pick and roll and he attacked Looney beautifully and scored through contact. Even the ESPN national announcer Dave Pasch after that play said “That’s what the Suns want to see more from Ayton as he does have a tendency to play soft in the paint”.

[bwgood77]

You did see Steph freaking Curry clamping him up in the post right…?

Guess I missed it. Typical for you to make something sensational out of nothing. I also guess you think Ayton was bad in the playoffs during the finals run.

No but he definitely wasn’t anything special last year. Listen man, I call a spade a spade when I see it. I don’t like any one player blindly. You can see the gameday thread against the Heat, I was looking out for you boy in there. And I already told you, I was a bigger Ayton fan than 99% of this board (including you) after he came back from his suspension in the bubble season and then the year after that. But I liked him then because he was playing hard and playing well all around then.

And yeah, not a good luck for a 7ft 250lb max C to get clamped by Steph Curry one on one in the paint

He did have one play later in the same QTR I think where Booker found him on a pick and roll and he attacked Looney beautifully and scored through contact. Even the ESPN national announcer Dave Pasch after that play said “That’s what the Suns want to see more from Ayton as he does have a tendency to play soft in the paint”.

He needs to just practice spinning to the right. His signature move was the back facing basket spin to left hook shot, but there have been times he could have spun to the right and taken it to the rim. It wasn't so much that Steph bodied him up as that he missed his hook shot...but could have just taken it to the rim if spinning to the right.

[sunsbg]

You did see Steph freaking Curry clamping him up in the post right…?

Guess I missed it. Typical for you to make something sensational out of nothing. I also guess you think Ayton was bad in the playoffs during the finals run.

No but he definitely wasn’t anything special last year. Listen man, I call a spade a spade when I see it. I don’t like any one player blindly. You can see the gameday thread against the Heat, I was looking out for you boy in there. And I already told you, I was a bigger Ayton fan than 99% of this board (including you) after he came back from his suspension in the bubble season and then the year after that. But I liked him then because he was playing hard and playing well all around then.

And yeah, not a good luck for a 7ft 250lb max C to get clamped by Steph Curry one on one in the paint

He did have one play later in the same QTR I think where Booker found him on a pick and roll and he attacked Looney beautifully and scored through contact. Even the ESPN national announcer Dave Pasch after that play said “That’s what the Suns want to see more from Ayton as he does have a tendency to play soft in the paint”.

Without Ayton Suns don't beat the Pelicans. He had a great 1st game vs Mavs and was bad most of the series like everybody else on the team. I know you for being overreactional since the start, bringing constantly that second contract quote, saying he's 10-14M player and posting negative twitter stuff to make him look bad. Like that missed FT at the end of game. Since then I have seen Luka and a 90% FT shooter miss twice going to the FT line in similar situation. Still find it funny you made a big deal out of it. And now this play that mostly makes Booker look bad. I said in another game thread that he's not a good entry passer. Took him 2-3 seconds to decide what to do, while he should have passed immediately when Ayton had established a deep position. DA was double-teamed so maybe even passing to the open man on right wing made more sense. Once Ayton got the ball Klay helped out as well. Tripple-teamed, not bad for a soft post player, right ? I'll be glad to see Curry defend him in playoff games. That said, he could have done better by spinning to the right as Bgwood pointed out, but went with his favorite midrange hook, which he converts quite often, even in 1st qtr of this game against bigger defenders. Post play is a lost art in NBA though. It's a wings game now. You can't touch them, that's why someone like Luka scores mostly in the paint on some insane %. Ayton on the other hand will probably get called for a foul trying to go a bit harder on Curry in this situation. Luckily, I have the opportunity to watch a 7'2" guy on my favorite Euroleague team in post up situations quite often. The games look so much better if it's not just spamming shots from outside.