Jamal Murray will quickly get Ross switched onto him, and it will yield very good results for the Nuggets. If Ross plays, and I’m guessing he gets a shot at some point here, Denver is just going to relentlessly pick on him by targeting mismatches through ball screens. Effort is not the issue, but Ross has a problem with making cohesive rotations, gets a step out of position too consistently and is prone to fouling. But Ross’ time in the rotation over a month showed how far behind he was defensively. This is where we get to Ross, a buyout signing who at the time felt like he was going to be the primary scorer off the bench. Traps are going to be even more common on Booker and Durant, so making the options more viable off the ball to punish Denver’s gambit is imperative. Not because Paul was bringing a lot to the table there but because Booker, Durant and Payne will need as much room to maneuver as possible. 1 on the checklist of requirements from the choice. With that in mind, spacing is going to be integral and has to be No. It was either that or continue to watch the same group fail. And with the lack of production, Williams has tried to give the majority of them chances. As Game 2 showed, Payne’s rim pressure often comes at an erratic cost, and his size on defense presents issues.Īll of these players had brief moments of impressing enough through all the injuries in the regular season to earn a crack. On offense, Ish Wainright hasn’t been trustworthy enough with his shot and the same can be said for Landry Shamet’s decision-making. Warren and his spacing offensively as a shooter. More on those two in a minute.ĭitto on T.J. The offense comes and goes too much from Torrey Craig and Josh Okogie, and Okogie’s deer-in-headlights moment late in Game 2 emphasized that for him after the best offensive stretch of his career in the regular season.ĭefensively, there is a justifiable worry to play Damion Lee and Terrence Ross. Phoenix’s only reliable two-way players happen to be its three other most important players outside of Paul. He’s still got that type of outing in him.įor the mob of fans criticizing Williams’ rotation choices, the problem with figuring out Paul’s replacement in the starting lineup speaks to what he is trying to sift through. He’s a Suns playoff legend for his tremendous 2021 Western Conference Finals performance replacing Paul in Games 1 and 2. And that kind of language is not fair to Payne, who has been extremely effective in the past. The Suns have no choice but to get their third and final ball-handler on the roster involved so Booker and Durant don’t have to do absolutely everything to create offense. Off of that, Cam Payne will shift in somewhere for his biggest role since late March. The Suns will have to try to maintain that in some ways. Paul during the Clippers series said there is required context to the high-minute totals for the Suns’ stars - their roles include enough rest for a play here or there, where 45 minutes might be as heavy on the body as it might appear. Remember, Phoenix has to win four of the next five games, not just Games 3 and 4. But if they burn themselves out to do so, it will not have mattered all that much. Yes, that is not possible unless they get past Denver. That will be our central focus.Ī philosophical belief to start with is the Suns cannot go blaze-of-glory here over three games. It’ll be difficult to replicate that without Chris Paul, who Phoenix is reportedly planning to not have until at least Game 6. For the most part, I liked the shots we put up and hopefully we knock ’em down next time.” There’s sometimes we could have made some extra passes as well but that’s just a part of the game, part of watching the film going back and making adjustments. “Yeah, we got some solid looks,” Durant said. It was the first game of his playoff career with at least 10 misses from 3-point range, per Stathead, and Williams noted part of his contentment with the quality of shots overall applies to Durant’s 3s too.ĭurant liked what the tape showed as well. The Suns’ priority will be getting a better game out of Kevin Durant after he shot 10-for-27. Report: Suns expect Chris Paul to miss Games 3-5 with left groin strain
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