Raps in 4 wrote:YogurtProducer wrote:Raps in 4 wrote:
Booker was the second best player on that team. They also needed injuries to AD, Kawhi, and Murray (the best or second best player on every team they faced) just to get the finals.
AD, Kawhi, and Murray are always hurt - that is kind of just what you expect from guys like that.
There are injuries every single year. When we won we benefited form them, just like every champ does somewhere.
We faced the Magic, Sixers, and Bucks at full strength.
The Suns needed injuries to the best or second best player on each team they faced in rounds 1-3 to get to the finals.
There is a huge difference there.
They won 64 games (edit - **** me. That was the next year. They were actually 51-21 (a 58 win pace)) you act like they were a lower seed who snuck by better teams who happened to get hurt.
LAL - The series was 2-2 when AD when down - Phoenix was still likely going to win that one.
DEN - Murray got hurt with 23 games left to go in the season and they went 17-6 without him AND won the first round without him.
LAC - Kawhi was out, but again the Clippers won a playoff series without him. A
MIL - Why do you ignore they went to 6 in the finals with 28/4/4 from Booker? Including B2B 40 point games in game 4 and 5 losses? The Suns were +12 when Book played and -26 when he sat.
Give Booker and the Suns credit. They were the best team in the NBA that year and lost 3 close games to end those finals.
Also just got to LOL at slipping in the Magic like that series meant anything

You are also conveniently forgetting that Embiid was sick/hurt in the 2nd round.
Embiid vs Raptors 2019
Game 2 - misses shootout with gastroenteritis and plays - goes 2/7 from the field
Game 4 - needed an IV to play, finished 2/7 from the field
Game 5 - upper respiratory infection
If Joel is healthy there is a REALLY good chance we lose that series.