2023 West Semifinals | (1) Denver Nuggets VS (4) Phoenix Suns (DEN WINS 4-2)

[spanishninja]

Suns v Lakers will be a fun Conference Finals. PHX has no depth though and CP3 is geriatric. Lakers in 6.

it's funny that people are still saying the Suns have no depth.

[pj0tr]

Suns still have the KD at the 5 lineup option that they havent gone to in these playoffs yet.

[The_Ghost_of_JB]

Booker and Durant are unstoppable and add in Joker putting up 53/11/4 in a losing effort Denver is definitely in trouble.

I said Phoenix in six and I'm sticking with this

[pj0tr]

Booker and Durant are unstoppable and add in Joker putting up 53/11/4 in a losing effort Denver is definitely in trouble.

I said Phoenix in six and I'm sticking with this

Malone talked about playing Reggie Jackson and Peyton Watson yesterday... Jackson stealing PT from Bruce Brown is an absolute win for the Suns given Jackson's play this year, and throwing Watson in as a rookie to defend Book and KD with 0 playoff PT thus far would be a disaster.

The funny thing is that everyone this season, even Nuggets fans, blasted their bench all year.

Now they are in a pickle - Landale over Bizzy, and having him over DA in the non-Jokic lineups, along with Monty finally putting all-offense lineups around Book and KD has absolutely changed this series.

Denver's best option at this point to win is hope KD and Book finally wear out and/or have an off-game in the altitude.

[GeorgeSears]

Booker and Durant are unstoppable and add in Joker putting up 53/11/4 in a losing effort Denver is definitely in trouble.

I said Phoenix in six and I'm sticking with this

The Nuggets are in trouble if their bench get outscored again by 29 points against another relatively weak bench unit. We'll see how the Suns bench responds when playing in Denver. The winner of game 5 will win the series.

[darmani]

Booker is 4-0 in the playoffs without Chris Paul. Hopefully this will continue today.

[Karate Diop]

Booker and Durant are unstoppable and add in Joker putting up 53/11/4 in a losing effort Denver is definitely in trouble.

I said Phoenix in six and I'm sticking with this

The flip side is that it's taking KD and Booker going supernova to match Jokic.

This is going to be a close series for as long as these 3 keep up their all-world level of play...

[Wolfgang630]

Reggie Jackson was garbage in the regular season. I mean who knows at this point. You got Lonnie Walker and Shamet going off now for other teams off the bench.

Malone messed up by not playing Peyton Watson more in the regular season. It sucks he’s just a rookie and it’s hard to just throw him into a game 5 of the semifinals.

[spanishninja]

Booker and Durant are unstoppable and add in Joker putting up 53/11/4 in a losing effort Denver is definitely in trouble.

I said Phoenix in six and I'm sticking with this

The Nuggets are in trouble if their bench get outscored again by 29 points against another relatively weak bench unit. We'll see how the Suns bench responds when playing in Denver. The winner of game 5 will win the series.

i can tell you that much, our bench can't turn in just 4 points like they did in game 1. I think the magic number is something like 25-30. if Monty continues with the expanded rotation, it's not too unreasonable of a goal.

[Inspektor1312]

I don't see how the Suns can win in Denver, unless Jokić has a really bad game. Role players will be much better at home.

[Peregrine01]

In the last two games, Murray's time of possession per game ranks second in these whole playoffs - even higher than James freakin Harden and well higher than Booker and Curry. He hasn't been getting anything going for himself outside of a two-man game with Jokic so most of his time of possession is being wasted dribbling out the clock. That Denver hasn't been getting much out of anyone other than Jokic is pretty obvious - their so-called number 2 dominates the rock and isn't passing it.

[Peregrine01]

I don't see how the Suns can win in Denver, unless Jokić has a really bad game. Role players will be much better at home.

The Suns best shot on defense is to lure Murray into isos - which they've been pretty good at these last two games. Otherwise they really have no hope of guarding Denver.

[Wolfgang630]

In the last two games, Murray's time of possession per game ranks second in these whole playoffs - even higher than James freakin Harden and well higher than Booker and Curry. He hasn't been getting anything going for himself outside of a two-man game with Jokic so most of his time of possession is being wasted dribbling out the clock. That Denver hasn't been getting much out of anyone other than Jokic is pretty obvious - their so-called number 2 dominates the rock and isn't passing it.

That’s crazy number 2 in time of possession. Dudes want to show me his numbers- “look he’s averaging 27/5/5 or whatever” like that’s all to basketball. Watch his game.

[Peregrine01]

In the last two games, Murray's time of possession per game ranks second in these whole playoffs - even higher than James freakin Harden and well higher than Booker and Curry. He hasn't been getting anything going for himself outside of a two-man game with Jokic so most of his time of possession is being wasted dribbling out the clock. That Denver hasn't been getting much out of anyone other than Jokic is pretty obvious - their so-called number 2 dominates the rock and isn't passing it.

That’s crazy number 2 in time of possession. Dudes want to show me his numbers- “look he’s averaging 27/5/5 or whatever” like that’s all to basketball. Watch his game.

Definition of empty calories. Murray reminds me of Derozan.

[spanishninja]

Booker and Durant are unstoppable and add in Joker putting up 53/11/4 in a losing effort Denver is definitely in trouble.

I said Phoenix in six and I'm sticking with this

The flip side is that it's taking KD and Booker going supernova to match Jokic.

This is going to be a close series for as long as these 3 keep up their all-world level of play...

is 36 points "supernova" by Booker and Durant standards? compared to the rest of Booker's playoff run so far, g4 was not necessarily that special of a scoring game. The 12 assists, on the other hand, were huge and he will need to continue setting up his teammates.

[Woodsanity]

Booker and Durant are unstoppable and add in Joker putting up 53/11/4 in a losing effort Denver is definitely in trouble.

I said Phoenix in six and I'm sticking with this

Malone talked about playing Reggie Jackson and Peyton Watson yesterday... Jackson stealing PT from Bruce Brown is an absolute win for the Suns given Jackson's play this year, and throwing Watson in as a rookie to defend Book and KD with 0 playoff PT thus far would be a disaster.

The funny thing is that everyone this season, even Nuggets fans, blasted their bench all year.

Now they are in a pickle - Landale over Bizzy, and having him over DA in the non-Jokic lineups, along with Monty finally putting all-offense lineups around Book and KD has absolutely changed this series.

Denver's best option at this point to win is hope KD and Book finally wear out and/or have an off-game in the altitude.

Malone needs to stop playing Jeff Green so much. I always see the Suns go on runs whenever that bum is on the court. And then I looked at the stats and they are dreadful....

[Woodsanity]

Booker and Durant are unstoppable and add in Joker putting up 53/11/4 in a losing effort Denver is definitely in trouble.

I said Phoenix in six and I'm sticking with this

The flip side is that it's taking KD and Booker going supernova to match Jokic.

This is going to be a close series for as long as these 3 keep up their all-world level of play...

is 36 points "supernova" by Booker and Durant standards? compared to the rest of Booker's playoff run so far, g4 was not necessarily that special of a scoring game. The 12 assists, on the other hand, were huge and he will need to continue setting up his teammates.

The key was the bench play. 40 points for the Suns I believe. I think the Nuggets bench scoring was like 10-20 points or something.

[Jadoogar]

Booker and Durant are unstoppable and add in Joker putting up 53/11/4 in a losing effort Denver is definitely in trouble.

I said Phoenix in six and I'm sticking with this

The Nuggets are in trouble if their bench get outscored again by 29 points against another relatively weak bench unit. We'll see how the Suns bench responds when playing in Denver. The winner of game 5 will win the series.

They need MPJ to have a Shamet level game. Jokic is going to get his and Murray is fairly solid, just need some help from the role players.

[spanishninja]

The flip side is that it's taking KD and Booker going supernova to match Jokic.

This is going to be a close series for as long as these 3 keep up their all-world level of play...

is 36 points "supernova" by Booker and Durant standards? compared to the rest of Booker's playoff run so far, g4 was not necessarily that special of a scoring game. The 12 assists, on the other hand, were huge and he will need to continue setting up his teammates.

The key was the bench play. 40 points for the Suns I believe. I think the Nuggets bench scoring was like 10-20 points or something.

yeah I don't expect us to get anything close to 40 again from the bench, but it can't be a complete regression to g1 either. Now that Monty has seen what those guys can do, he has to trust them, even on the road.

[hippesthippo]

your basic premise is correct, it's a terrible idea to throw a rookie who avged 3 ppg into the fire but Malone shouldn't have been in this situation in the first place

the same goes for guys they did get some burn during the rs and were mentioned here
Vlatko has been out of the rotation in the playoffs, now u want him to play in the most important game of the season when he's out of confidence and game shape?

Malone is a loser

as for Jeff Green, this his been my axe to grind all season i wrote about 50 times - Jeff Green is one of the worst rotation players in the NBA. the Nuggets aren't beating a good team like PHX with Jeff Green

not using some small sample +- in a particular seies, literally any stat you would look at, raw or advanced of any kind will tell u this has been the case for Jeff Green for a couple of seasons now

he wasn't very good to begin with (quite overrated throughout his career) but is completely washed at 36

in theory, any Jeff Green minutes going to anyone - would be an upgrade, even if it rookies like Braun or Peyton (who barely played) or guys life Vlatko, Zeke etc

Yes. Absolutely, yes. Jeff Green has been a running joke the entire season. He's not getting any better at 36yo.

Nnaji, Cancar, Watson; I'd be fine with any of them. Nnaji can at least be a road bump on defense and grab some offensive rebounds. Cancar can provide some of what Jokic does on offense. Both have been around the team for years and would have no issues fitting right back in.

Watson looks to be a capable defender and we've seen plenty of rookies throw their coming out parties in the playoffs. Tayshaun Prince just off the top of my head. Carlisle stubbornly refused to play him in the regular season, but finally gave him minutes in the playoffs when the team was down 1-3 against Orlando and needed a spark. The Pistons went on to win that series and Prince ended the year with more points in the playoffs than the regular season.

I'm not saying Watson is that good, just that playing him wouldn't be as unorthodox as you seem to believe.

Do you want Jeff Green playing double digit minutes in the most important game of the season when he's absolutely awful even on his best days?

I've said from the beginning that this series is going the distance. For that to happen Denver needs to continue to be physical and grind. That's not going to happen with a 6 man rotation.

don't get me wrong, i'm all for playing Vlatko and Zeke. if we're talking about them taking Green's mins then obviously - hell, yes. I was just pointing out that Malone completely shutting out guys from his rotation might come back to haunt the Nuggets if they actually do use them

as for Peyton it's a no brainer imo. list of rookies who made impact on D is a lot longer then whom you've mentioned
when u see the Nuggets defense completly hapless and Booker going off in NBA 2k efficiency - it's a no brainer to give him a diff look frm a player who might be the best on ball defender you have

you don't need him for 25 mins, u need him for 10 good mins. he can foul if need be, he can bring alot of intensity as he's playing very few mins and can go 120% effort

no brainer, just to try u know? if it doesn't work out so be it but give him a look, Malone is useless

Agreed. Malone putting guys on ice for months at a time for seemingly no reason has always been infuriating.