Western Conference | Round 1 | (1) Phoenix Suns VS. (8) New Orleans Pelicans (PHX 3-2)

[CptCrunch]

Ayton is one of the most overrated players in the league. Obviously playing very hard out there last game providing 0 impact.

[tamaraw08]

Ya I think many people are starting to realize just how much better this Pels team is compared to their overall record. Three things drastically throw it off, the horrible 1-12 start, BI getting banged up a couple times throughout the year, and the late addition of CJ.

1. Take away the 1-12 start, they are 38-35 in their last 73 games. Not great, but also not a super scrub team.
2. They're 32-26 when BI plays a full game (1 loss when he only played 8 minutes).
3. They're 12-7 when both BI and CJ play and 11-3 in their last 14 games together.

To be clear, Im not saying the Pels are some secret contender this year. But ya when you take away the horrible start (6 months ago), and all the games BI missed, then add in how well they've played since getting CJ. This current team aint no push over. And if Booker really is going to miss the next 2 games on the road, this is a real series right now.

How much better would they be if Zion plays for like 24 minutes per game?
Would he help or would he disrupt their flow?

I mean the thing is, what's working is the two man offense. Green has simplified this offense where everyone just plays around BI and CJ. That can work when its two guys. Much harder to do it with 3 guys.

But ya with that said Zion on limited minutes could easily be a huge boost to this team. You could easily split up the minutes where we rarely see all 3 on the court together, but we never have just 1 guy on the court.

Because again adding that 3rd guy on the court at the same time, changes the offense pretty big. But if you could make it so the majority of the game where you get to keep the offense of 2 guys taking their turns. Ya Zion would be a crazy good addition to them. Just think trying to make the offense revolve around all 3 at once, is too big of a change this late in the season.

Not a few are thinking that the main reason they won was because of Booker getting injured but I also think a lot of it is because NO hit so many clutch 3’s... what are the chances they keep it up? BI has been great reading the defense too at some point the Suns will get really physical and the Pels will go cold but I am very intrigued about how they use Zion and maximize his presence without disrupting their system. Imagine him setting solid screens to CJ and Murphy etc. on the other hand, how they deal with him having to switch in the perimeter?

[NO-KG-AI]

Nobody wants to talk about how we were up when Booker was still in the game.

[Whole Truth]

Nobody wants to talk about how we were up when Booker was still in the game.

Booker was 0-2, with 0pts in the 7-8mins he played 3rd Q. His first half shooting was not sustainable especially with Herb swithced onto him.

Assuming Booker was available to close the 4th Q how was he going to impact it ?

People are ignoring the fact Suns hit something like 4-5 3's in succession down the stretch.. just so happens NO's shot 55% from 3 & matched them stride for stride offensively.

Unless Booker was going to do a better job of shutting down BI in the stretch than Bridges or the NBA comes up with a 6pt shot that they could shoot better as a team than 4-5 consecutive 3's. Suns offense wasn't the issue down the stretch.... they couldn't contain BI who was shooting over their best man defender.

If BI can continue to do that, Suns are in trouble regardless of if Booker plays. NO's with Jonas pulling down 38 boards, 16 offensive have crushed them in ectra possessions which is why with Booker going off for 31pts on 7-9 3pt shooting with CJ mostly on him first half, they only had a 5pt lead with Booker hitting a 3pt buzzer beater to close the half.

Lastly the Paul fatigue factor that Chuck brought up. Green was afamant about pushing pace & it caused a Booker injury & a Paul 4th Q burnout & now with Booker out, Paul has to carry the full load with Green no longer having issue with who to put Herb on ..

[NotaHypeJob]

Seeing the Suns struggle without Booker makes me think that Anthony Davis was right about last year

Anthony Davis should worry about staying on the court and not about Booker.

I'm talking about when he said the Suns only.beat the Lakers because he got hurt. Seems very accurate considering how meek the Suns looked without Booker.

[garrick]

Typical overreaction, Brandon Ingram is most likely not going to average 37ppg the rest of the series and NO isn't going to continue to shoot 57 percent from 3.

Suns can still win this without Booker but they're going to have to change their strategy somewhat and maybe try a limited run of playing 2 centers to take away NO's advantage on the boards.

It's still way too early to be handing the series over to NOP.

[TeamTragic]

Seeing the Suns struggle without Booker makes me think that Anthony Davis was right about last year

Anthony Davis should worry about staying on the court and not about Booker.

I'm talking about when he said the Suns only.beat the Lakers because he got hurt. Seems very accurate considering how meek the Suns looked without Booker.

I don't know if you are aware but Booker was injured during the season and the SUNS managed without him. Same happened to Paul and they managed without him as well.

Injuries happen and there is no way to prepare for them. Everyone needs to step up without Booker and get to the next round.

[tamaraw08]

Typical overreaction, Brandon Ingram is most likely not going to average 37ppg the rest of the series and NO isn't going to continue to shoot 57 percent from 3.

Suns can still win this without Booker but they're going to have to change their strategy somewhat and maybe try a limited run of playing 2 centers to take away NO's advantage on the boards.

It's still way too early to be handing the series over to NOP.

Good post, I agree. I can’t see them sustaining that hot shooting esp from the 3 rookies. I see Phoenix playing physical defense but I just hope guys like Crowder don’t hurt Ingram forcing him to sit some games. The question is how much energy are they going to need from the aging CP3? Will his body hold up?

[pj0tr]

Ayton is one of the most overrated players in the league. Obviously playing very hard out there last game providing 0 impact.

Ayton was a big reason Phoenix made the Finals.

He had a terrible game last night, no one here is denying that - but the overreaction takes on Ayton today are unbelievable.

[kobe_vs_jordan]

Booker injury might lead to upset imo. Doubt he comes back this series. Booker was generating roughly 40 points of efficient offense per game for them.

Ingram and CJ are streaky hot right now. Confidence high.

[enigmatics]

Ayton is one of the most overrated players in the league. Obviously playing very hard out there last game providing 0 impact.

Still amazes me any of my fellow Suns fans actually want to give this kid a max. The kid is SOFT and it pains me to say it. He picks the most inopportune times to completely disappear.

[JHFVF07]

NOP has to keep their energy, run like there's no tomorrow, tire CP3 and hope he has no legs on the 4th.

[spanishninja]

NOP has to keep their energy, run like there's no tomorrow, tire CP3 and hope he has no legs on the 4th.

this is something the advanced metrics fail to capture with the Suns. Sure, CP3 has higher impact stats than Booker, but him being so clutch in the 4th is highly dependent on conserving his energy. It gets much harder if you need him to carry the playmaking throughout the entire game, which Booker had been doing.

[The High Cyde]

Looks like he’s out 2-3 weeks per Woj, tough break. He was playing amazing.

[BoatsNZones]

2-3 weeks. Gets him back for the WCF if they make it. Possibly mid-late 2nd.

This series just got very dangerous though.

[Duke4life831]

I think with Booker being out for the rest of the series, this series is probably close to a pick'em. The Pels have been one of the hotter teams since the CJ trade and they have HCA at the moment. I wouldnt call the Pels the favorite, but I think its probably close to a pick'em. This is going to be a very tight series.

[GSWFan1994]

I think Phoenix will still advance, they still have the better team from top to bottom, and most importantly, play way better defense.

Some variance is due to happen as well.

Nevertheless, Phoenix's margin of error has just got smaller. I had them clearly as the cream of the conference, now things seem to be shaking up a bit.

[spanishninja]

I think Phoenix will still advance, they still have the better team from top to bottom, and most importantly, play way better defense.

Some variance is due to happen as well.

Nevertheless, Phoenix's margin of error has just got smaller. I had them clearly as the cream of the conference, now things seem to be shaking up a bit.

should have placed some bets when Warriors were like +1200

[JoeyLightYears]

I think with Booker being out for the rest of the series, this series is probably close to a pick'em. The Pels have been one of the hotter teams since the CJ trade and they have HCA at the moment. I wouldnt call the Pels the favorite, but I think its probably close to a pick'em. This is going to be a very tight series.

This is a crazy hot take. Some y'all are gonna be feeling pretty silly by next week.

[Phystic]

Ayton is one of the most overrated players in the league. Obviously playing very hard out there last game providing 0 impact.

Still amazes me any of my fellow Suns fans actually want to give this kid a max. The kid is SOFT and it pains me to say it. He picks the most inopportune times to completely disappear.

I don't disagree that DA is inconsistent but I also don't put it all on him. Look at the difference in game vs game 2. The Suns failed to make DA a priority on offense. And just like most big men, if they get established early they are usually more engaged throughout the game.

Game 1 they got him the ball in the first, think he had like 10 pts. They got him in roll, lobs, pick n pops, in the post, free throw extended, etc. He got multiple looks

Game 2 I don't remember them running a single set to make sure he got quality looks. And that's been the Suns all year. Which is why DA has a lot of fluctuation