Suns center Deandre Ayton is confident that Phoenix will rebound after its 125-107 blowout loss to the higher-seeded Nuggets in Game 1 of their second-round matchup, per Duane Rankin of The Arizona Republic.
“We will be a completely different team Game 2,” Ayton said. “I can tell you that. The physicality, we’re going to turn it up a notch. They were playing Nuggets basketball but they were playing a little too [comfortably].”
Ayton had a modest night. In just over 30 minutes, he scored 14 points on 7-of-11 shooting, and chipped in seven rebounds. However, the 6’11” big man was a team-worst minus-21 when he was on the floor.
There’s more out of Phoenix:
- The Suns currently have the lowest-scoring bench in the league, Rankin writes in a separate piece. Reserve point guard Cameron Payne is working his way back into game shape after a lower back injury kept him unavailable for all but four minutes in Phoenix’s five-game first-round series win against the Clippers. Rankin notes that Payne is hoping to help improve his team’s backup luck against Denver. “I’m just ready to get back out there and do whatever I can help our team get to the next round.” In just 48 games during an injury-plagued 2022/23 regular season, Payne averaged 10.3 PPG. Payne played just five minutes in Game 1 of the Denver series, scoring five points on 2-of-3 shooting during garbage minutes.
- All-Star Suns shooting guard Devin Booker proved he truly belongs among the league’s elite thanks to a stellar performance in the first round, opines Rankin in another Arizona Republic story. Booker has improved defensively and as a passer, but his biggest attribute remains his multifaceted scoring touch. To wit, he outscored the Clippers by himself during a decisive third quarter of Phoenix’s closeout Game 5 win, 25-24, while connecting on 10-of-11 from the floor. He scored 27 points against the Nuggets in Game 1, on 10-of-19 shooting.
- Though the Suns actually connected on a better percentage of their field goals (51.2%) than the Nuggets did (47.5%) in Game 1, the disparity in made three-pointers proved to be a big part of why they ultimately lost by 18 points, writes John Hollinger of The Athletic. In the postseason thus far, teams are attempting 35 triples a game, while the Suns shot just 23 threes in that Game 1 loss, and many of those tries happened with the game already well out of reach.
Every seed is in the 2nd round. Each seed has a representative
East
2 Celtics
3
5
8
West
1 Nuggets
4
6
7
2nd round playoffs
Top 4 vs top 4
Bottom 4 vs bottom 4
Suns do need a better bench. This can come back to hurt them. Denver is tough out.
Phx doesn’t seem to want to get Ayton involved and he doesn’t seem to care much now that the bag is secured
Was constantly outplayed in the Clip series by anyone they put at the 5
Nugs in 6
It’s posts like these that makes me want a dislike option.
Fans always like to hate on a guy after they sign a big contract but Ayton played fine against the Clippers. He averaged 15.6ppg and 11.2pph vs the Clippers as the 3rd option.
Honestly the Suns kinda screwed him on his contract by letting him become an RFA then just matching the Pacers offer. They should’ve just maxed him.
Ayton has to up his game vs the MVP…
Anyone who matches up with Jokic has to play their best basketball of their lives… Otherwise they end up with terrible +/-