2021 Western Conference Round 2: (2) Phoenix Suns vs. (3) Denver Nuggets

[insidehoops]

2021 NBA playoffs second round Suns vs. Nuggets series discussion thread

Your series predictions? And key factors for each team?

Game 1: Suns 122, Nuggets 105
Game 2: Suns 123, Nuggets 98
Game 3: Suns 116, Nuggets 102
Game 4: Suns 125, Nuggets 118
Suns win series 4-0

[DOUBLE DRIBBLE]

Suns in 5. Suns backcourt will just be too much for Denver to contain. Jokic will have a few triple doubles but other then him nobody else on the team will really step up.

[fsvr54]

Nobody on the Suns can remotely guard Godkic, and don't say Ayton. Godkic had Gobert for dinner last year.

[DOUBLE DRIBBLE]

Nobody on the Suns can remotely guard Godkic, and don't say Ayton. Godkic had Gobert for dinner last year.

Jokic will do his thing no doubt but who else is going to step up for Denver? Gordon and or MPJ? Key matchup will be Mikal vs MPJ. Can Mikal contain MPJ? I think Mikal is going to lock up MPJ and limit his scoring. Gordon isn’t going to go off on offense being guarded by Crowder. Nobody on Denver can stop Book from getting his, so another key will be CP3’s play. If CP3 is healthy then he is most definitely going to be 20/10 each game because nobody on Denver can contain him if he’s healthy. The Suns backcourt is just too good for Denver without Murray playing. Will Payne have success on offense off the bench? I think yes because Denver’s backcourt isn’t very good right now. You are going to see scoring no doubt from Book and CP3, the Suns will exploit Denver’s vulnerability in their backcourt. They won’t look for Mikal’s shooting, his primary assignment will be trying to lock up MPJ which I think he can do. I don’t see any big scoring coming from Gordon. Ayton can score against Jokic but he isn’t going to stop Jokic from going off in points… Jokic will have a few 30 point games easily so the rest of the team will have to do their defensive assignments and limited the other Denver players from stepping up on offense. Another big key is going to have to be Ayton’s rebounding. He’s going to have to limit Denver’s 2nd shot points and rebound the same ball and not let Jokic get offense rebounds. Denver will try to exploit Ayton’s inexperience and get him in foul trouble early to take away the Suns rebounder. Because other then Ayton the Suns are a weak rebounding team. Ayton doesn’t have to do much on offense and he doesn’t have to try to stop Jokic which he can’t anyways but he can’t get in early foul trouble because the Suns need his rebounding desperately. Biggest question mark is CP3’s health… if he’s at 100% or near it then the offense is going to flow smoothly and I could see them ending this series in 5. If Murray was playing then this series would go the distance and I’d give a slight edge to Denver but not having his scoring will hurt them against this high octane offense the Suns have… I just don’t see them matching up with their scoring… they have too many weapons on offense.

[kawhileonard2]

This would be an epic series with everyone healthy.

[KOBEtherealKing]

Suns in 6

[Lebron23]

Nuggets in 6

[Akeem34TheDream]

Suns in 7

[Foster5k]

I have no idea who will win this series. The main reason being, no one really knows how good the Suns truly are.

The Lakers would have won that series, vs the Suns, if fully healthy. Then again, a fully healthy Lakers can hang with any team currently in the NBA. The Nets would beat them in a series though, imo. However, that's another story.

So, as I said, don't know how good the Suns are considering they played an injured Lakers squad that went 6 games. It's like if the Hawks manage to somehow beat the 76ers, without Joel Embiid, no one is picking them vs the Bucks or the Nets. I should just say the Bucks, because I don't think the Nets would ever be underdogs anyhow vs anyone. I'm just trying to make a comparison to the Suns.

All in all, the Suns seem like a good team. They were the 2nd seed in the West. Again, were they? Meaning, a lot of people were saying the Lakers were the real 2nd seed if fully healthy. Suns are a huge question mark, at this point.

Even if they do win this series vs the Nuggets, the Nuggets aren't fully healthy. We still will have some doubt at the true strength of the Suns. We'll get to that story if and when it comes.

In the end, I guess I'll take the Suns. Denver is injured. They're missing one of their key players in Jamal Murray. Do I feel good picking the Suns? Not really. The Suns, to me, are still a team in the dark. Are they really giant killers, or are they just the guy who got a lucky shot vs a couple injured giants?

[highwhey]

I have no idea who will win this series. The main reason being, no one really knows how good the Suns truly are.

The Lakers would have won that series, vs the Suns, if fully healthy. Then again, a fully healthy Lakers can hang with any team currently in the NBA. The Nets would beat them in a series though, imo. However, that's another story.

So, as I said, don't know how good the Suns are considering they played an injured Lakers squad that went 6 games. It's like if the Hawks manage to somehow beat the 76ers, without Joel Embiid, no one is picking them vs the Bucks or the Nets. I should just say the Bucks, because I don't think the Nets would ever be underdogs anyhow vs anyone. I'm just trying to make a comparison to the Suns.

All in all, the Suns seem like a good team. They were the 2nd seed in the West. Again, were they? Meaning, a lot of people were saying the Lakers were the real 2nd seed if fully healthy. Suns are a huge question mark, at this point.

Even if they do win this series vs the Nuggets, the Nuggets aren't fully healthy. We still will have some doubt at the true strength of the Suns. We'll get to that story if and when it comes.

In the end, I guess I'll take the Suns. Denver is injured. They're missing one of their key players in Jamal Murray. Do I feel good picking the Suns? Not really. The Suns, to me, are still a team in the dark. Are they really giant killers, or are they just the guy who got a lucky shot vs a couple injured giants?

fair point, but it's almost meaningless because the nets are too stacked not to win it all. at this point, whoever faces the nets (even if the lakers had advanced to the finals) would lose to them. the only scenario where ANY nba team beats the nets is due to injuries.

[Axe]

I pick the suns. Portland should have forced a game 7 against denver.

[coin24]

Nuggets in 5..

[Proctor]

Denver in 6

[imdaman99]

Let's go Nuggets. I think Jokic already said something like Ayton gave him the most trouble this season. But good thing playoff Jokic is a different beast

[Mask the Embiid]

1 down....1 to go....Here we go phoenix! Here we go! (clap clap)