![]() Cracks routinely appeared until Murray’s make at 8:24 to go brought on a “finally!” hands-up gesture from the star of Saturday’s Game 1 victory who shot 3-for-15.ĭurant scored on two consecutive possessions and then Booker got a middy to go down as well, signaling that perhaps Phoenix’s superstar shot-making would save the day. ![]() and Gordon by containing Jamal Murray to successfully cut the head off the snake but the dam on an offense as good as Denver’s was eventually going to burst. Phoenix’s defense was doing a tremendous job forcing the Nuggets to beat them through the individual scoring of Nikola Jokic, Michael Porter Jr. Only eight points were scored in the first 3:51 of the fourth quarter and they all came from Denver to put it up five, which included a pair of Kentavious Caldwell-Pope triples. … We figured out a formula to run an action, kick it and then play out of that and that’s something that we got to stick to against this team the way they play in pick-and-roll.” “And it kind of got away from it a little bit and we missed a ton of shots. “The thing that was working was kicking it on the back side and just playing 0.5,” Suns head coach Monty Williams said. Durant couldn’t, and Booker had expended himself too much already for one more surge of brilliance. That’s when superstars can bail their squad out. When an action didn’t work, it was hero ball from Durant or Booker. Denver’s late defensive wrinkles, like putting Aaron Gordon on Ayton, stalled them out. They could have been leading by 20 if the quality of shots matched how often the ball was going in.Ī lot of that had to do with Paul, and once he came out, the Suns lost that rhythm. Up until then, they had righted the wrongs in their offense, getting back to great movement and unlocking 3-point opportunities by swinging the ball to the second side. They were up seven with under three minutes to go in the third quarter, 90 seconds after Paul had exited. Thus, it cannot be stated enough how much the Suns had to win this one. It’ll still take just about the best from the other three. If Paul comes back, he still won’t be at 100%, like we’ve seen the last two postseasons. If he can’t return the rest of the way, the Suns would need at least one masterclass from Booker and Durant each night, plus the return of Ayton from the 2021 playoffs. Paul’s injury status will define how much this loss comes back to bite Phoenix after he tweaked his groin going up for a rebound. Felt like they was good leaving my hand but it is what it is.” Just didn’t go down,” Durant said of his shots. His last two field goals came when the game was already out of reach. His shooting by quarter was 2-for-8, 2-for-5, 2-for-4 and 4-for-10, respectively. Durant never had it going for more than a minute across any period. He was 2-for-12 on 3s, most of them fairly decent looks for one of the best 3-point shooters ever. Expecting anything less from him would be an absolute and utter insult to his greatness.īut Durant couldn’t deliver. The all-timers like Durant sense those moments and snatch ’em up with ruthless precision. But Phoenix lost Chris Paul due to a left groin injury in the third quarter, Devin Booker did what at this point feels like a freaking prerequisite carrying act for portions of the game and it got a reenergized Deandre Ayton in a game that hung from the rafters up for grabs for what felt like ages.Īll the Suns required was for their second star to contribute in the way he is expected to in order to steal a game they shot 40% in. Hardly an awful stat line, nor performance. Suns briefly switch up bench rotation in Game 2 loss to Nuggetsĭurant ended the night 10-of-27 for 24 points, with eight rebounds, three assists, a steal, two blocks and two turnovers in 44 minutes.
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