NBA PLAYOFFS: Game 6 - (2) Phoenix Suns @ (7) Los Angeles Lakers l Thursday l 7:30pm l TNT l PHX wins series (4-2)

[Saberestar]

I have the same feeling I did back when Nash was hip checked. I was so excited because we tied that series and had momentum.
But deep down, you knew you couldn't celebrate thanks to the possibility of the suspensions.

For this one, I'm thrilled we won, but it almost feels like a loss. We're so early in the playoffs that, even if we get past LA, we have 3 more series to go if we want a ring. If Paul didn't sustain the fluke injury, I'd be ecstatic. But he did. And he hurt it again with minimal contact yesterday. To think that this team and the special season could go down the drain because Johnson and Paul had an awkward collision is just devastating to think about.
The door has never been more open for a championship and stupid **** like this happens.


If this were the regular season, there's a good chance Paul is out a month. Instead, he's going to keep playing at the risk of re-aggravating it. He knows how close he is and I imagine he won't let them take him out.

The Lakers are the toughest opponent in the West.

We can rest CP3 in a game in the next round against the Nuggets (or Blazers) better than resting him against the current champs.

The Nuggets without Murray are worse than the Lakers, no doubt about it. Without AD...OK, then it is close, but people expect AD to play for sure in the 7th game and probably in the 6th game.

We can not speculate in a battle with the Lakers. LeBron is there, you know that we need to give it all now to try to close this series in the next game. I am pretty sure that Monty and CP3 think the same...they know LeBron and AD really well.

[King4Day]

I have the same feeling I did back when Nash was hip checked. I was so excited because we tied that series and had momentum.
But deep down, you knew you couldn't celebrate thanks to the possibility of the suspensions.

For this one, I'm thrilled we won, but it almost feels like a loss. We're so early in the playoffs that, even if we get past LA, we have 3 more series to go if we want a ring. If Paul didn't sustain the fluke injury, I'd be ecstatic. But he did. And he hurt it again with minimal contact yesterday. To think that this team and the special season could go down the drain because Johnson and Paul had an awkward collision is just devastating to think about.
The door has never been more open for a championship and stupid **** like this happens.


If this were the regular season, there's a good chance Paul is out a month. Instead, he's going to keep playing at the risk of re-aggravating it. He knows how close he is and I imagine he won't let them take him out.

The Lakers are the toughest opponent in the West.

We can rest CP3 in a game in the next round against the Nuggets (or Blazers) better than resting him against the current champs.

The Nuggets without Murray are worse than the Lakers, no doubt about it. Without AD...OK, then it is close, but people expect AD to play for sure in the 7th game and probably in the 6th game.

We can not speculate in a battle with the Lakers. LeBron is there, you know that we need to give it all now to try to close this series in the next game. I am pretty sure that Monty and CP3 think the same...they know LeBron and AD really well.

Yes, but if Paul is debilitated to the way he was in games 2 and 3, we can't play him. It'll be a repeat. Starting Payne and using Moore would let us a put our foot on the gas a bit more too. I'd even be OK starting Moore and keep Payne off the bench

But we know Paul will play. He won't not play unless it's worse than last time.

[spanishninja]

Few things:

1. You can't rest CP3 for Game 6. Two big reasons why, you don't give the defending champs two chances to beat you. That's stupid. You also don't want LeBron in a Game 7 (possibly with AD having more time to get right). You close it NOW.

2. Went over to the Lakers board to see what the sentiment was, and they are in full offseason mode. The rosterbating has begun, they're talking abut their championship window being closed (Lebron age and AD health), they're ready to move on from Schroder, etc. Will be interesting to see if the Staples crowd has the same mentality or if they get up for this one. Momentum early is going to be a big factor.

3. I can't see Davis playing. He's too easy to exploit if his lateral movement is limited by the groin (and it should be). He might be able to hit some shots, but he won't be able to stay in front of anyone and won't be able to get inside. I think him playing gives them an emotional lift, but doesn't really help basketball wise.

4. The Suns need to avoid a blowout. A loss is bad, but not devastating with the chance to come back home and close. But we can't get crushed and lose all the momentum and confidence we've built. Losing by 5 hurts, but we can bounce back. Losing by 25 is not the mentality you want to be in going into Game 7.

Take away point 4 because losing absolutely cannot be on our minds. That's what **** over the Lakers last night and we don't have the privilege of being able to give away a game.

[bwgood77]

CP3 will play in Game 6, no doubt about it.

He is too important to the team, we need CP3 to give us quality minutes as a floor general.

It is not gonna be easy, I expect AD to play and that would change everything.

I've had groin issues - if he plays, he should be close to what he did in the first half of the previous game. We should attack him, and single coverage should be more than enough when he has the ball. I'm not sure if it's a bad thing for us if he does play like this. Obviously this depends on how severe the injury is, but judging by his face, it's not good.

This is also a reason why I think we should let CP heal as much as possible.

He won't be able to move side to side. Would be easy to guard.

I do think we should rest Paul in Game 6 to start and only insert him if needed. Payne has played well enough to try. We can afford to see how we play for half a quarter and see if we really need CP3.

No chance I'd sit him and rest him if he says he's ready to go. We have no idea how injured it really is. He said it felt strong afterwards..2 days before the game. I think he will probably be fine, or nearly fine.

If it is clearly bothering him and impacting his game, THEN they can sit him

[bwgood77]

absolutely no chance in hell you rest Paul and NO SHOT he would allow it.

You play CP3....you go for the kill....Suns need to go to staples center with that same mentality they had last night..

AGGRESIVENESS

Yes, "we need to rest Paul" without knowing anything about how healthy he is...doesn't make sense.

[bwgood77]

I have the same feeling I did back when Nash was hip checked. I was so excited because we tied that series and had momentum.
But deep down, you knew you couldn't celebrate thanks to the possibility of the suspensions.

For this one, I'm thrilled we won, but it almost feels like a loss. We're so early in the playoffs that, even if we get past LA, we have 3 more series to go if we want a ring. If Paul didn't sustain the fluke injury, I'd be ecstatic. But he did. And he hurt it again with minimal contact yesterday. To think that this team and the special season could go down the drain because Johnson and Paul had an awkward collision is just devastating to think about.
The door has never been more open for a championship and stupid **** like this happens.


If this were the regular season, there's a good chance Paul is out a month. Instead, he's going to keep playing at the risk of re-aggravating it. He knows how close he is and I imagine he won't let them take him out.

The Lakers are the toughest opponent in the West.

We can rest CP3 in a game in the next round against the Nuggets (or Blazers) better than resting him against the current champs.

The Nuggets without Murray are worse than the Lakers, no doubt about it. Without AD...OK, then it is close, but people expect AD to play for sure in the 7th game and probably in the 6th game.

We can not speculate in a battle with the Lakers. LeBron is there, you know that we need to give it all now to try to close this series in the next game. I am pretty sure that Monty and CP3 think the same...they know LeBron and AD really well.

If we can close out in 6 with Paul, and the other series goes 7 which is likely, we will get about 4 days rest...so it would be unlikely to need to rest anyone. Paul is not going to rest anyway unless he is really hurting and I doubt he is hurting any more than he was before game 4 when they were thinking of resting him but he came in and balled.

[King4Day]

Read on Twitter

[RunDogGun]

If Paul is like he was in game two, he is a liability on the floor. We can't play him. Now if he can do close damage shooting left handed, either floaters or layups, then I would be fine. But we can't play him just because he wants to be out there. If he has trouble shooting before the game, we should start Moore, and give more minutes to Payne. I also think we should try Craig instead of Frank. He is pretty crafty, and can out hustle almost all the bigs on the Lakers except Harrell.

[SunsRback4Good]

jcsunsfan
"I do think that all the talk is about the Lakers in this series and people are not really noticing how good this Suns team is. They are relentless on D, no matter how much they are down. They are physical and they make scoring painful. They are patient on offense and pass the ball quickly. They move without the ball. No one stands around watching. They regularly get very good shots. But the most underrated aspect of this team is the fact that they pass a LOT and turn the ball over very little.

Game 5 they had 4 turnovers. For the entire team, for an entire game. That indicates a well-coached, well-disciplined team."


^^^; I cannot post on GB since 2015 it seems, but I had to paste your post and apply it here. Well said, you couldn't be more spot on. The turnover battle wasn't talked about after the game, maybe was if so I missed it. But in a decisive game where 82.5% of teams advance, the Suns only turned the ball over FOUR times to Lakers 16. That was the huge reason for our 30 point halftime lead. We hardly commit TO's as a unit, play tough top 10 defense, top 10 offense. Only downfall are rebounding, but I prefer gang rebounding as it's our best option to win games until we solve the missing puzzle and bring in a pf along with Stix improvement moving forward. The future is bright folks.

[Crives]

Need to get CP3 some rest. Need to close this out in 6.

[sunsbg]

If we and Nuggets close out the series in 6 we'll play again on Saturday with the way games are being scheduled.

[Qwigglez]

It's probably best you don't have GB post access @SunsRback4Good, it's almost like talking to a brick wall. People mention only reason Suns are winning is because AD is injured, yet don't hear anything about Chris Paul. Thinking CP3 is fine now, which is 100% not true. Even in Game 4 CP3 wasn't 100%. CP3 for the season averages 3.7 3PA's per game yet in the playoffs he shot 1 three in Game 1 (before the injury), and Game 2/3 didn't take a 3, Game 4/5 he took 3 threes each game only making 1 of the 6. He's still not healthy, but Paul recognizes he has to take those 3s to keep the defense honest. Last year with the Thunder CP3 shot 6 3s a game in the playoffs, I would think he'd probably be closer to 4-5 a game in this years playoffs if he didn't aggravate that shoulder.

Need CP3 to play Game 6 and win. He'll probably only play 28 minutes at most, unless it's neck and neck in the 4th quarter, and also depending on if Payne is hot or not. Need the dub to give him rest for the next series hopefully.

I'm hopeful also that Bridges has gotten out of his shell a bit. Game 1 he played well, but he disappeared in Game 2 and 3, then played well again in Game 4 and 5. I think part of it has to do with his assignment so shoutout to Monty for adjusting well and to maximize our players to the best of their ability.

I predict the Lakers will try and utilize Harrell again when Ayton comes off the floor, and I'm assuming Monty will likely play Craig more to match Harrell's energy and hustle.

[Revived]

What are the biggest adjustments you guys think Lakers will try and make in game 6?

Let’s assume AD won’t play (I think he will but will be super limited so same as basically not playing).

[WeekapaugGroove]

What are the biggest adjustments you guys think Lakers will try and make in game 6?

Let’s assume AD won’t play (I think he will but will be super limited so same as basically not playing).

I expect LeBron to take it to the rack early and often but I guess I expected that in game 5 too.

Nothing would really surprise me in game 6. Like I could totally see a vintage LeBron game and the Lakers role players being better at home and they win. I could also see LeBron try for like 5 minutes and then say **** it this team can't do it and the suns win pretty easy.

I do expect AD to try and play.

Sent from my SM-G986U using RealGM mobile app

[BobbieL]

What are the biggest adjustments you guys think Lakers will try and make in game 6?

Let’s assume AD won’t play (I think he will but will be super limited so same as basically not playing).

I expect LeBron to take it to the rack early and often but I guess I expected that in game 5 too.

Nothing would really surprise me in game 6. Like I could totally see a vintage LeBron game and the Lakers role players being better at home and they win. I could also see LeBron try for like 5 minutes and then say **** it this team can't do it and the suns win pretty easy.

I do expect AD to try and play.

Sent from my SM-G986U using RealGM mobile app

I think this is pretty accurate. If the Suns can get them down early -- blow them out. I think James will call it. But if they are in the game - of course he will be tough to stop.

Nobody is making shots for the Lakers. It was an odd mix of a team - I still don't get the Drummond thing. Gasol is very very slow these days. Anthony Davis healthy makes up for a lot on that roster thats for sure.

Hopefully the Suns start hot and stay hot.

[SunsRback4Good]

It's probably best you don't have GB post access @SunsRback4Good, it's almost like talking to a brick wall. People mention only reason Suns are winning is because AD is injured, yet don't hear anything about Chris Paul. Thinking CP3 is fine now, which is 100% not true. Even in Game 4 CP3 wasn't 100%. CP3 for the season averages 3.7 3PA's per game yet in the playoffs he shot 1 three in Game 1 (before the injury), and Game 2/3 didn't take a 3, Game 4/5 he took 3 threes each game only making 1 of the 6. He's still not healthy, but Paul recognizes he has to take those 3s to keep the defense honest. Last year with the Thunder CP3 shot 6 3s a game in the playoffs, I would think he'd probably be closer to 4-5 a game in this years playoffs if he didn't aggravate that shoulder.

Need CP3 to play Game 6 and win. He'll probably only play 28 minutes at most, unless it's neck and neck in the 4th quarter, and also depending on if Payne is hot or not. Need the dub to give him rest for the next series hopefully.

I'm hopeful also that Bridges has gotten out of his shell a bit. Game 1 he played well, but he disappeared in Game 2 and 3, then played well again in Game 4 and 5. I think part of it has to do with his assignment so shoutout to Monty for adjusting well and to maximize our players to the best of their ability.

I predict the Lakers will try and utilize Harrell again when Ayton comes off the floor, and I'm assuming Monty will likely play Craig more to match Harrell's energy and hustle.

Yeah, it sure is wonderful my posting privileges were revoked cause the stupidity is off the charts. Just reading this comment below confirms your take on the GB

"While technically true, the Suns aren't even close to being the best team in the playoffs. It's just the Lakers are terrible this year and are the 7th seed. Any number of top teams would probably eliminate them this year."


^^^^ its always about the Lakers and never about the Suns. We sure didnt earn the 2nd seed with great chemistry all year long and top 10 offense/defense. Even if AD & CP3 never got injured we may still beat them in 6-7 games yet Laker fans will find reasons to blame their teammates instead of giving recognition to our team.

[SunsRback4Good]

What are the biggest adjustments you guys think Lakers will try and make in game 6?

Let’s assume AD won’t play (I think he will but will be super limited so same as basically not playing).

I expect LeBron to take it to the rack early and often but I guess I expected that in game 5 too.

Nothing would really surprise me in game 6. Like I could totally see a vintage LeBron game and the Lakers role players being better at home and they win. I could also see LeBron try for like 5 minutes and then say **** it this team can't do it and the suns win pretty easy.

I do expect AD to try and play.

Sent from my SM-G986U using RealGM mobile app

I think this is pretty accurate. If the Suns can get them down early -- blow them out. I think James will call it. But if they are in the game - of course he will be tough to stop.

Nobody is making shots for the Lakers. It was an odd mix of a team - I still don't get the Drummond thing. Gasol is very very slow these days. Anthony Davis healthy makes up for a lot on that roster thats for sure.

Hopefully the Suns start hot and stay hot.

Maybe Lakers assumed he can provide what they lost in Mcgee/Dwight.

[Saberestar]

Read on Twitter

“Chris is fine. We’ll be ready to go, he’ll be ready to go,” the GM told Arizona Sports’ Burns & Gambo on Wednesday. “I think he’s shown over the course of his career and specifically recently that if he’s able to help his team he’ll be out there. We’ll be good and we’ll get ready for a battle.”

Asked a follow-up on if it can be classified as a setback or not, Jones said the following: “Until Chris isn’t out there, we always plan and expect him to be there.”

A second bit of clarification was proposed on if Paul is expected to play in Game 6, and Jones responded, “I don’t know how to say it any clearer than that. Unless Chris isn’t playing, he’s playing.”

[thamadkant]

This is absolutely a MUST win... Game 7 is anyone's game and defending champs have advantage mentally.

Suns need to kill any momentum for Lakers by quick time outs for any leads greater than 5. Booker needs to NOT settle for jump shots, he needs to put Caruso and whomever guards him on foul trouble considering Caldwell Pope might be out and Matthews cant guard him.

I'd keep Ayton on Lebron.. WHEN Lakers have Gasol in, have someone else cover Gasol. Drummond, as much flack he gets here is a nightmare on the boards, simply Suns have a much better time rebounding when he's off the court.

[Revived]

I think Lakers are gonna try a lot of zone in this game. In the first half of gm 5, we almost had more pts in the paint alone than they had pts overall.

Their gonna dare guys to hit 3s especially Crowder and Bridges.

Suns aren’t a bad 3pt shooting team for the reg season but it hasn’t been very good in the playoffs so I bet Vogel wants to test that.