2023 West Semifinals | (1) Denver Nuggets VS (4) Phoenix Suns (Series tied 2-2)

[Jadoogar]

Suns' role players will have atleast one big game at home. Damien Lee, Craig, Shamet, etc can't keep missing shots at this rate. That will be the game that Phx will HAVE to win.

[Sgt Major]

Read on Twitter

?t=loH0yCYWna7W9Ky2iKLFtw&s=19


His interviews are lit lately

[Wolfgang630]

He’s right why one. We’re here to end this series.

[Jkam31]

I have a feeling the Suns will win game 3. Their bench will finally show and go nuts. I predict they get hot and score 25 pts. That will be the difference . The next two will go to Denver. I have the Suns winning this game and losing in 5.

Have the same thought. I think Suns win tonight, be up most of Game 4 but blow a lead down the stretch, and then bow out in Game 5. But this team is running on fumes right now. Could very easily lose tonight. If Suns lose tonight I think it'll break them and they'll get blown out in Game 4.

Next season is the one real shot. Suns FO will have to pull off some magic in the offseason to build the rest of the team back out around Booker and Durant though. Don't see how we can roll it back with CP again because regardless of whatever decline he just won't be available in the playoffs anyways. Which leaves Ayton as the only thing with any value we have to trade. Can't trade any picks. Maybe Payne can get back to being a plus player if he's starting, but he can't stay healthy either. Point Book should not be a long-term option. FO has their work cut out for them.

There throwing out Kyrie for Ayton in a sign and trade and both teams should do it

[nbafan38]

Denver does feel a bit like a team on a mission with something to prove. I still feel like we don't know how good they are though because they played Minnesota in round 1 and Phx looks like a mess.

[whatisacenter]

let's go Nuggets!

[Exp0sed]

Denver does feel a bit like a team on a mission with something to prove. I still feel like we don't know how good they are though because they played Minnesota in round 1 and Phx looks like a mess.

I agree that we haven't seen who they really are yet, maybe PHX shows up tonight but up till now it's clear that PHX isn't actually an elite team

I think tonight's do or die game for PHX on their home floor, outside of Denver where the Nuggets struggled at times and guys playing for legacy and pride and ofc, to keep this series alive - would be a good litmus test

will the Nuggets drag this on or do they have what it takes to stay focused despite being 2-0 and playing away?
they're not advancing further than this round without showing some killer instinct imo

and while we haven't seen them against elite competition in the post season yet, they did have an impressive season and they've played the top teams very well and you can only play the teams that are facing you obviously, so far their rs "story" has checked out in the postseason as well

their let downs have mostly been weird losses to really bad teams, that's obviously not indicative of their quality but of their focus

was that a rs season thing, coasting etc or is this something that will continue to be an issue?

[nomansland]

was that a rs season thing, coasting etc or is this something that will continue to be an issue?

Conventional wisdom used to be that you shouldn't coast at the end of the season because you lose your edge and momentum. Maybe that's not true anymore but we still have a lot of games to see how it plays out for the Nuggets.

Let's see how focused the Nugs come out this game. If they punch Phoenix in the face we'll have to begin questioning that conventional wisdom.

It's the Nugs though so I will always expect the worst and hope for the best.

[Jesus_H_Macy]

I have a feeling the Suns will win game 3. Their bench will finally show and go nuts. I predict they get hot and score 25 pts. That will be the difference . The next two will go to Denver. I have the Suns winning this game and losing in 5.

Have the same thought. I think Suns win tonight, be up most of Game 4 but blow a lead down the stretch, and then bow out in Game 5. But this team is running on fumes right now. Could very easily lose tonight. If Suns lose tonight I think it'll break them and they'll get blown out in Game 4.

Next season is the one real shot. Suns FO will have to pull off some magic in the offseason to build the rest of the team back out around Booker and Durant though. Don't see how we can roll it back with CP again because regardless of whatever decline he just won't be available in the playoffs anyways. Which leaves Ayton as the only thing with any value we have to trade. Can't trade any picks. Maybe Payne can get back to being a plus player if he's starting, but he can't stay healthy either. Point Book should not be a long-term option. FO has their work cut out for them.

There throwing out Kyrie for Ayton in a sign and trade and both teams should do it

Ya maybe... I don't know. Normally I would want nothing to do with Kyrie but we may not have any better options. Talent-wise it would be an upgrade but seems like a really poor fit. Kyrie doesn't fix any of the problems we have. Ayton will probably beast on any team we trade him to so I want him going East ideally. Our roster is so depleted and our ability to replenish so limited that I think we'd be better off trying to trade Ayton for multiple role players. Maybe we could get Capela and someone else better than a 7th man from Atlanta for him. I really don't know. Being a Suns fan should be exciting right now but it feels like the KD era is over before it even started. I'm sure things will look more optimistic with a summer to forget their ugly play this PO, but when you look at the roster, ages of CP and KD, the lack of picks, and the complete lack of ability of James Jones to make value trades... FO has their work cut out for them. Wish I felt more confident about that.

[scrabbarista]

Read on Twitter

?t=loH0yCYWna7W9Ky2iKLFtw&s=19


His interviews are lit lately

Post the one where they asked him if he expects PHO's energy to be up now that they're back at home.

[enigmatics]

Ayton has never and will never be a beast @ Jesus_H_Macy.

It's not in his DNA or mental makeup. Changing teams won't suddenly morph him into something he's not. It gets so tiring watch fans dangle that threat as if to scare other fans into thinking there couldn't POSSIBLY be a better future without him. He can't even find it in him to bring it consistently with two alphas on the roster in Book/Durant. Dude should be beyond excited and licking his chops given indirect benefits he gains.

Can perhaps a better position coach than Mark Bryant or head coach that Monty Williams add a couple more moves to his arsenal aside from uber passive layups or 18ft jumpers? Sure. He'll never have a 3pt shot.

He's a finesse big - always will be and in an era where true centers are being phased out. Only the special ones like Embiid and Jokic are still thriving.

[Jesus_H_Macy]

Ayton has never and will never be a beast @ Jesus_H_Macy.

It's not in his DNA or mental makeup. Changing teams won't suddenly morph him into something he's not. It gets so tiring watch fans dangle that threat as if to scare other fans into thinking there couldn't POSSIBLY be a better future without him. He can't even find it in him to bring it consistently with two alphas on the roster in Book/Durant. Dude should be beyond excited and licking his chops given indirect benefits he gains.

Can perhaps a better position coach than Mark Bryant or head coach that Monty Williams add a couple more moved to his arsenal? Sure. He'll never have a 3pt shot.

He's a finesse big - always will be and in an era where true centers are being phased out. Only the special ones like Embiid and Jokic are still thriving.

I wasn't implying that we couldn't improve by trading him (I think we probably have to). I'm close to the end of my rope with him as well. "Beast" was a poor word choice but I don't think it's outside the realm of possibility he could return to his '21 form on another team.

[One Last Shot]

Durant lost 6 out of his last 7 Playoffs Semifinals games. This should be a sweep or maybe Jokic will decide to win this in 5, dude's a gentleman so we'll see. Phoenix Suns should thread carefully and let KD get involve in their decisions on how they want to proceed in the offseason.

[Phystic]

What a stupid question to ask. Any competitive player is going to say they intend to win every game

[garrick]

I have a feeling the Suns will win game 3. Their bench will finally show and go nuts. I predict they get hot and score 25 pts. That will be the difference . The next two will go to Denver. I have the Suns winning this game and losing in 5.

Have the same thought. I think Suns win tonight, be up most of Game 4 but blow a lead down the stretch, and then bow out in Game 5. But this team is running on fumes right now. Could very easily lose tonight. If Suns lose tonight I think it'll break them and they'll get blown out in Game 4.

Next season is the one real shot. Suns FO will have to pull off some magic in the offseason to build the rest of the team back out around Booker and Durant though. Don't see how we can roll it back with CP again because regardless of whatever decline he just won't be available in the playoffs anyways. Which leaves Ayton as the only thing with any value we have to trade. Can't trade any picks. Maybe Payne can get back to being a plus player if he's starting, but he can't stay healthy either. Point Book should not be a long-term option. FO has their work cut out for them.

There throwing out Kyrie for Ayton in a sign and trade and both teams should do it

Doesn't make sense to help out a conference rival and besides in a straight up trade you're going to become even more undersized on a team that doesn't actually have that many big men to rebound.

Problem is JJ has failed to build up this roster and he should be replaced by someone like Sam Presti who values building via the draft and actually has a scouting department.

[scrabbarista]

Who's ready for the first basketball game of the night?!?!?

[cjx]

Mile High Might,

Nuggets Country, Let's Ride,

It's Winnin' Time, Fam!!

[scrabbarista]

Mile High Might,

Nuggets Country, Let's Ride,

It's Winnin' Time, Fam!!

Indeed it is!

[Sgt Major]

Let's roll

[ArksNetsSince99]

Mile High Might,

Nuggets Country, Let's Ride,

It's Winnin' Time, Fam!!

Mile High Reunited, go Nuggets!!!!