Suns @ Nuggets Prediction: Back Suns to stay hot in Denver
In Game 2 between the Phoenix Suns and the Denver Nuggets, the Suns put on another convincing performance, taking advantage of a poor shooting night from Denver in a 123-98 win
One thing that’s been fun to watch has been Chris Paul picking his spots and absolutely taking over when his team needs him to. He’s not going to be the guy that goes out and gets 20 a night anymore, but he still has as good a feel on the game as ever.
If not for Nikola Jokic, Denver would be absolutely lost this series, more than they already appear. Michael Porter Jr. had a rough showing in Wednesday’s contest and was visibly stiff dealing with his back injury. He was able to hit his last two 3-pointers before being pulled for almost the entire fourth quarter.
As we all know by now, Paul has had problems the deeper the playoffs go and the more minutes he has to play. In that case, it’s to Paul’s, and Phoenix’s advantage to get the game out of hand as quickly as they can, and we saw that in Game 2.
Outside of Paul, the rest of the Suns are clicking on all cylinders. As I pointed out in Game 2’s preview piece, Deandre Ayton has been having some of his best games against Denver and Jokic. It’s honestly incredible to see how this year has gone for Ayton big picture.
He went from being seventh on the team in fourth-quarter minutes to playing his best basketball of his career these past two weeks. Ayton knows the chip is on his shoulder with guys like Luka Doncic and Trae Young being selected after him, so to see him with his chest out going against the league’s Most Valuable Player is great for Phoenix now and going forward.
With Porter Jr. not being on the floor for Denver as much on the wing, Bridges has been playing great on the wing. He averaged 13.5 points per game in the regular season and is averaging 19.5 points per game this series on 54 percent shooting.
The best part of it is that we haven’t even talked about Phoenix’s best player yet. I think Booker is really coming into his own as a real superstar right now. He had that huge game to eliminate the Los Angeles Lakers and has been good in this series, but he really hasn’t needed to take over. I do think we get a 35 or 40-point game from Booker in these playoffs, but with the Suns offense rolling the way it is, I think they stick with the team basketball approach.
My pick is Suns +110 on the moneyline tonight, but if you feel safer getting the two points, I can’t knock you for doing that.
For our prop of the night, I’m taking a look Cameron Payne, who was been on what has been called on the internet as the “Cam Payne Campaign.” Lets go with over 2.5 assists for Payne tonight, but Suns ML is my big play.
