averaged exactly 3 threes in that 2021 series against the Suns, so I’m confident he’ll start off the series with a solid game here. Phoenix has shown weakness in defending the perimeter against the Clippers allowing 37% of LA’s shots to fall from distance over the last 3 games of this series. In the last 3 games of the series vs Minnesota he logged 40 mins per game, if his play time continues to be in that range that should almost automatically mean 12-15 shot attempts. ![]() ![]() The Nuggets will need his production against the high scoring Suns in this series, so he cannot shy away from the challenge regardless if Kevin Durant or Devin Booker is on him. still finished the series averaging 2.8 makes per game from distance on a more than respectable 42.4% efficiency. ![]() Although he had only 8 points in the series clincher vs Minnesota, Porter Jr. Since we’re on the subject of threes, I’m also including Michael Porter Jr. He cleared this line in 4 of the 5 games against the Clippers, so I’m liking his chances to do it again in the series opener on Saturday. He averaged exactly 2 threes per game, and dating back to 2020 he has made at least 2 threes in 10 of 14 games vs Denver. Booker torched the Suns in that 2021 West semi-finals averaging 25.3 points and 7.8 rebounds per game on 48% shooting from the field. All those numbers won’t mean much if the Suns lose this series. But, as his idol Kobe Bryant would say “job is not done”. In the series clincher he exploded for 47 and 10 assists, it was one of the best performances we saw in the NBA postseason this decade. He finished the series averaging 37.2 points, 5 rebounds and 6.4 assists per game, while shooting over 60% from the field and better than 46% from three. Devin Booker 2+ made threes (-340)īooker’s performances in the first round against the Clippers were historically great from a statistical standpoint. For a player like Ayton who does most of his damage from up close, that is something he will definitely try to take advantage of on Saturday. Karl-Anthony Towns had a couple of really solid performances in the previous series against him, as a team the Nuggets were allowing 54.7 points per game from inside the paint in the last 3 games. His size and agility will be a problem for the Serbian big man who tends to struggle against more agile centers. He shot exactly 61% from the field, so he likes the match-up. In the 2021 playoffs, Ayton averaged 14.3 points and 10.5 rebounds per game in the Suns sweep, starting the series with 20 points in Game 1. These two players have faced off a total of 10 times so far in the regular season, Ayton is averaging 20.7 points per game and has cleared the 15 point mark in every single game aside from their first meeting way back in 2018 when he had just 5 points. This is going to be a massive series for Deandre Ayton, I’d argue his success against Nikola Jokic will decide advances to the conference finals. This series is going to be a lot of fun, and I expect the over to land in most games. The total has also gone over in 4 of the last 6 head-to-head meetings, while an average of 228.6 points per game has been scored in their last 10. ![]() On the road the Suns have gone over the total 9 times in their last 11 games, while overall they’re 6-2 on the O/U in their last 8 played. Jamal Murray and Michael Porter Jr.’s length could cause problems, but you need a complete team effort to slow down a player like Durant. I still like their chances of putting up a lot of points in this series, though, as the amount of space Booker is working with as KD attracts all the attention on offense will allow him to do whatever he wants offensively. The absences of Paul George and Kawhi Leonard meant no resistance around the perimeter for Devin Booker and Kevin Durant, as their numbers show. The Suns got pretty much everything they wanted in their series against the Clippers.
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