Playoff Murray could actually be a thing, he is one of the best playoff risers in the NBA. In the Nuggets’ last 20 postseason wins with Murray, he is the leading scorer in 14 of those. If they can hop in with Murray or Jokic and stay afloat while giving one of them a rest, they can make this a long series. They need to take advantage of the minutes where the Suns are forced to sit either Booker or Durant. This doesn’t mean the Nuggets’ bench needs to go outperform the Suns’ bench because they won’t see them quite often. The Suns’ bench gets the least amount of minutes in the league and only scored 72 points across those five games, both good for a bottom-two spot among all postseason squads. The first key to victory is the bench and by a wide margin. They couldn’t quite complete the sweep but it was good to get out of there early with some positive notes. The Nuggets took care of business against a Timberwolves team that has some questions to answer this offseason, but still a commanding series win for Denver. Their bench is bad but we will get into that during the Nuggets. If Ayton can bring that same defense he provided in 2021 and make someone else beat you, they’re in great shape.įinally, the Suns’ starters better be ready to run 40 minutes a night against this Denver team. Jokic shot 47.7 percent from the field against Ayton in their last playoff series and, while that’s good for 99 percent of players, Jokic was flustered. The second key and this may be most important, is Deandre Ayton defending Jokic. If the Suns stay dedicated to using every foot of offensive floor to shoot the ball, they can put Denver in a blender. The next closest team in attempts is the Miami Heat at 8.3 and they’re shooting 45.5 percent. They are shooting 57.6 percent from 15 to 19 feet on 13.2 attempts a game. What makes them so efficient is their dedication to all three levels of shooting. They’ve also been second in three-point and field goal percentage in the playoffs. They lead all playoff teams in offensive rating at 123.6, 2.4 more than the next team. The first key the Suns need is their consistent efficiency from everywhere on the floor. Nonetheless, not playing with your food and winning in five games gets a round of applause. Kawhi Leonard got hurt early and couldn’t return and Paul George wasn’t available at all. The Suns are coming off a gentleman’s sweep of the Los Angelos Clippers, but this wasn’t the satisfying domination people were expecting. We could look at the basics and say that Durant is a bigger addition than Murray so the Suns are in four again, but this Nuggets team is not that same squad. Nikola Jokic has another MVP and has a good case for a third, Jamal Murray is playing this time around, and Kevin Durant is a Sun. Many things have changed since that series. These two teams met in the 2021 Western Conference semifinals where the Suns would win in four games by an average margin of nearly 16 points. They’re a young team.The first two teams have moved into the Western Conference playoffs the Phoenix Suns and the Denver Nuggets. Build a culture that on the outside looks rock solid.ĭenver isn’t going away. Get lucky with a second round pick who will be a Hall of Famer. Hit on your trades and first round picks. Aaron Gordon picked up in a deal with Orlando. Kentavious Caldwell-Pope came to Denver via trade. Jamal Murray came out of the lottery as the seventh choice. This wasn’t a bunch of high draft picks that came together. It’s impressive how the Nuggets were constructed. And the last step after a champion is to be a dynasty. “You go from a nobody to an upstart, upstart to a winner, a winner to a contender, a contender to a champion. Nuggets head coach Michael Malone quoted the great Pat Riley late Monday night after the win. Not with Kevin Durant closer to the end than the beginning. They don’t have years to build a title contending roster.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |