WC | Rd. 2| (2) Suns vs (3) Nuggets [4-0 Suns]

[JShuttlesworth]

This is the series I'm most looking forward to, I really like both of these teams.

[Mrakar]

Suns need CP3 to make this happen. 60% CP3 is not enough.
Campazzo is very annoying defender and he will make it hard for CP3.
Also key for Suns is to attack Jokic every possesion, CP3 or Booker, every time down the court attack him in pick and roll, try to get him into foul trouble or to get him tired before he gets Ayton into foul trouble.

It will be a close and a fun one...

[bwgood77]

Those OT and double OT games were in Denver, and Booker got injured near the end of the first one and Booker was out the entire second game and then Ayton fouled out in the first OT.

Nope.

They both took place in Phoenix.

You are right about Booker though.

My bad...not sure why I was thinking that. Though of course no fans at the time, so not much of a HCA. Suns were also the best road team in the NBA and have played well in Denver.

[BigGargamel]

Man, what a difference a half a year makes. I'm terrified of the Suns. Facu, Morris and Rivers are going to have to play the series of their lives vs. this back court.

I think Denver has the best player but Phoenix is the better team. If Denver wins, it's in seven games.

[Seattlesun]

Suns in 5 games. Nuggs will get game 3 in Denver. With Jamal playing, I’d definitely be singing a different tune. I wish he was playing, love that dude.

[Blackification]

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[HotRocks34]

My assumptions:

- CP3 is not 100%
- Barton comes back at some point in the series. Maybe Dozier as well.

Nuggs in 6

[Childs]

So its the "worst MVP in the NBA history" vs "guy who should of been traded for Kuzma"...

I hate NBA mainstream media. Should be a good series. Rooting for both teams.

[jredsaz]

Denver’s worst matchups are great, slasher-heavy offenses. Denver doesn’t care about good defensive teams, because Jokic dismantles pretty much any defense thrown at him. That is why Portland was actually a tougher matchup than Suns will be for Denver imo. Suns lack the offensive talent needed to take Denver down in a 7-game series, I have Denver in 5 or 6.

Suns were tied for 6th best offensive rating with the Nuggets at 116.3. They are also an excellent slashing team who plays great defense. If CP is healthy, Suns in 5 or 6.

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[jredsaz]

Jokic shot 13/34 (38%) against the Suns when Ayton was the primary defender this season.

Jokic with Ayton on court: - 3.7 NetRtg
Jokic with Ayton off court: +11.8 NetRtg

Ayton in his last 6 games against Jokic:
33 pts, 14 reb, 80% FG
22 pts, 13 reb, 50% FG
28 pts, 19 reb, 62% FG
22 pts, 11 reb, 77% FG
27 pts, 13 reb, 85% FG
17 pts, 13 reb, 50% FG

Suns in 6.

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[jredsaz]

Chris Paul is the key to this series. Phoenix's guards can dominate the series if CP is near 100%. If not, it gets dicey for them. Ayton's performance drops dramatically if he doesn't have Chris Paul setting him up.

CP has to be amazing for the Suns to win this, imo. And I'm not sure what condition Chris Paul is in right now. He's only made one 3pt shot in the last 3 games (1/9).

Nuggets will probably win in 6 games if CP can't play at an All Star level.

I dont understand the analysis. CP doesn't have to be amazing to win this series. Suns need to play their best defense and knock down shots. I would be more worried about how the Nuggets are going to score outside of Jokic. MPJ had an excellent first round but the Blazers didn't have the players that the Suns do to throw at him.

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[jredsaz]

If PHO believes of facing RS Jokic he will make a big mistake... The usage of Jokic in PO increasing from 29% to 36%.
This leads to an enormous effort in those who have to defend him.

Nurkic that has been always one of best to defend Jokic, increased his Fouls Rate per 100 possessions from 5.7 to 8.8 (+54%).
Yes, Nurkic is fouls prone but probably defend PO Jokic is a no joke.

Ayton in RS had a Fouls Rate per 100 possessions of 4.6 and during the LAL serie against Drummond and Gasol 4.2 (-8%) doesn't seem like he had to work too hard... we'll see against PO Jokic

Ayton played massive minutes over the first four games against AD, Drummond, and Gasol. He worked his ass off. He is going to make Jokic work too.

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[FrobeBryant]

Salty lakers fan here hoping the Nuggets murder the Suns. Sounds like a fun series though even though I’m not watching one more second of playoff basketball.

[jredsaz]

Like in every series for the last 3 years, people pointing out how their center will do just fine vs Jokic because he had some good games against him in the regular season... only for that center to get smacked like a bitch haha.

Jokic in the post-season is a different beast, expect Ayton to look inferior and focus on the advantages in the other positions. Pulling these stats from RS is meaningless, people did that with Nurkic too who has great RS stats vs Jokic, and yet Jokic averaged 33 on him on great efficiency while Nurkic was nowhere to be seen offensively.

Jokic figures his defenders out no matter who they are, there's little hope it won't happen with Ayton, especially because he lacks the physicality.

And then Jokic will try a little bit harder on defense, while Ayton won't be able to focus on the offense because he'll be out of breath because of defending Jokic, and suddenly you'll have him barely in double digits most of the games.

Lol! This man's crystal ball is broke

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[FinnTheHuman]

Denver’s worst matchups are great, slasher-heavy offenses. Denver doesn’t care about good defensive teams, because Jokic dismantles pretty much any defense thrown at him. That is why Portland was actually a tougher matchup than Suns will be for Denver imo. Suns lack the offensive talent needed to take Denver down in a 7-game series, I have Denver in 5 or 6.

Suns were tied for 6th best offensive rating with the Nuggets at 116.3. They are also an excellent slashing team who plays great defense. If CP is healthy, Suns in 5 or 6.

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Jokic struggles against high PnR's where the attacking guard explodes to the rim. Suns don't have that kind of electric guard, both Booker and Paul are finesse. Booker is not as good a slasher Dame is. So no, Suns are not what I mean by 'slashing'. Good luck.

[jredsaz]

Denver’s worst matchups are great, slasher-heavy offenses. Denver doesn’t care about good defensive teams, because Jokic dismantles pretty much any defense thrown at him. That is why Portland was actually a tougher matchup than Suns will be for Denver imo. Suns lack the offensive talent needed to take Denver down in a 7-game series, I have Denver in 5 or 6.

Suns were tied for 6th best offensive rating with the Nuggets at 116.3. They are also an excellent slashing team who plays great defense. If CP is healthy, Suns in 5 or 6.

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Jokic struggles against high PnR's where the attacking guard explodes to the rim. Suns don't have that kind of electric guard, both Booker and Paul are finesse. Booker is not as good a slasher Dame is. So no, Suns are not what I mean by 'slashing'. Good luck.

I guess. The Suns operate out of thenhigh pick and roll a lot and those guards are more than capable of punishing Jokic. So is Ayton.

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[FinnTheHuman]

Like in every series for the last 3 years, people pointing out how their center will do just fine vs Jokic because he had some good games against him in the regular season... only for that center to get smacked like a bitch haha.

Jokic in the post-season is a different beast, expect Ayton to look inferior and focus on the advantages in the other positions. Pulling these stats from RS is meaningless, people did that with Nurkic too who has great RS stats vs Jokic, and yet Jokic averaged 33 on him on great efficiency while Nurkic was nowhere to be seen offensively.

Jokic figures his defenders out no matter who they are, there's little hope it won't happen with Ayton, especially because he lacks the physicality.

And then Jokic will try a little bit harder on defense, while Ayton won't be able to focus on the offense because he'll be out of breath because of defending Jokic, and suddenly you'll have him barely in double digits most of the games.

Lol! This man's crystal ball is broke

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It's not crystal ball, it's just years of experience watching dumbasses who underrate Jokic getting burned:)))

[jredsaz]

Like in every series for the last 3 years, people pointing out how their center will do just fine vs Jokic because he had some good games against him in the regular season... only for that center to get smacked like a bitch haha.

Jokic in the post-season is a different beast, expect Ayton to look inferior and focus on the advantages in the other positions. Pulling these stats from RS is meaningless, people did that with Nurkic too who has great RS stats vs Jokic, and yet Jokic averaged 33 on him on great efficiency while Nurkic was nowhere to be seen offensively.

Jokic figures his defenders out no matter who they are, there's little hope it won't happen with Ayton, especially because he lacks the physicality.

And then Jokic will try a little bit harder on defense, while Ayton won't be able to focus on the offense because he'll be out of breath because of defending Jokic, and suddenly you'll have him barely in double digits most of the games.

Lol! This man's crystal ball is broke

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It's not crystal ball, it's just years of experience watching dumbasses who underrate Jokic getting burned:)))

Jokic will have a big series. Ayton Is going to make it hard on him tho. Aytons length, strength and athleticism combo are harder on Jokic than Nurkics brute strength regardless of the boards consensus.

Where is the rest of the offense coming from?

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[charley barkles]

Denver’s worst matchups are great, slasher-heavy offenses. Denver doesn’t care about good defensive teams, because Jokic dismantles pretty much any defense thrown at him. That is why Portland was actually a tougher matchup than Suns will be for Denver imo. Suns lack the offensive talent needed to take Denver down in a 7-game series, I have Denver in 5 or 6.

Suns were tied for 6th best offensive rating with the Nuggets at 116.3. They are also an excellent slashing team who plays great defense. If CP is healthy, Suns in 5 or 6.

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Jokic struggles against high PnR's where the attacking guard explodes to the rim. Suns don't have that kind of electric guard, both Booker and Paul are finesse. Booker is not as good a slasher Dame is. So no, Suns are not what I mean by 'slashing'. Good luck.

I think you’re going to be in for a surprise. CP3 isn’t what he once was, but Booker and Cam Payne just ran circles around the #1 defense in the NBA.

[jredsaz]

Suns were tied for 6th best offensive rating with the Nuggets at 116.3. They are also an excellent slashing team who plays great defense. If CP is healthy, Suns in 5 or 6.

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Jokic struggles against high PnR's where the attacking guard explodes to the rim. Suns don't have that kind of electric guard, both Booker and Paul are finesse. Booker is not as good a slasher Dame is. So no, Suns are not what I mean by 'slashing'. Good luck.

I think you’re going to be in for a surprise. CP3 isn’t what he once was, but Booker and Cam Payne just ran circles around the #1 defense in the NBA.

For real

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