Phoenix Suns: Chris Paul, Suns decisive in Game 2 blowout; take 2-0 lead

Chris Paul has been known for many things come playoff time. While his postseason career has been plagued by injuries and shortcomings, it has also been highlighted by a tremendous number of highlights and record-breaking performances.

Dating back to the 2008 first-round 4-5 series between Dallas and New Orleans, where the ‘Point-God’ played to the tune of 15 assists without a single turnover,  Chris Paul has been putting together some of the most efficient displays of playmaking the game has ever seen.

Since that Dallas series in 2008, including Wednesday night’s matchup between the Phoenix Suns and the Denver Nuggets, Paul has amassed three such games with 15+ points, 15+ assists, and 0 turnovers.

To put that in perspective, Paul is responsible for half of all such occurrences in NBA playoff history. The only other players to achieve such a feat are Magic Johnson, Jason Kidd, and Johnny Moore, putting Paul in elite company. Age, injuries, and playoff demons be damned, Paul is still performing at the top of his game, and it couldn’t come at a better time.

The second-seeded Suns have been throttling opponents thus far, averaging a 17-point margin of victory throughout this postseason, dropping only two games to the Los Angeles Lakers by an average of just 10.5 points. The Suns have not only been efficient in their offensive production but in their defensive prowess as well. While only managing the 10th best offensive rating throughout the playoffs, the Suns have managed to stifle opponents, earning them the top defensive rating (104.3) through eight games played.

It would be simple to chalk up both Paul and the Suns’ performances to convenient matchups, sans Anthony Davis, Jamal Murray, or just eight fluke games; but nothing about this Suns season has been a fluke. The addition of Paul in the offseason was the perfect complimentary piece to Devin Booker’s game, allowing the 24-year-old phenom to re-structure his game to hunt for shots in his sweet spots, and reduce his playmaking load.

Though his usage rate has risen by two points between the 2020 and ’21 regular season, Booker’s work is essentially cut out for him, having the luxury of being able to run defenders through a plethora of screens knowing that one of the league’s premier passers will undoubtedly find him exactly when and where he wants the ball.

In addition to reducing Booker’s workload, Paul’s playmaking mastery has boosted the play of Deandre Ayton, turning him into the perfect pick-and-roll and pick-and-pop partner. Ayton, plain and simple, has the skillset to leave defenders lost. Bigs can’t play drop coverage, as they leave the mid-range open for Paul or Devin Booker, even Cameron Payne, nor can they play either the ball-handler or the roll-man too tight, as Ayton’s reach allows him to grab passes and throw them down with ferocity from nearly any angle.

Even more, Ayton is Phoenix’s defensive anchor, marking off the paint with yellow tape most nights.

So while Phoenix’s three stars are able to score and facilitate in the exact manner they want, the remaining Suns’ starters and reserves become even more deadly. With Mikal Bridges, Jae Crowder, Torrey Craig, and Cameron Johnson, Phoenix has enough wings to fill out a value meal. All four pose a threat on both ends of the floor, as the quartet has shot 37 percent from 3 thus far in the playoffs on nearly 20 attempts a game.

Furthermore, the length and defensive intensity that Phoenix’s wings bring has made the game increasingly difficult for the Nuggets to compete on the offensive end, as Denver’s offensive rating in the regular season (117.1) has dropped to a meager 105.1 against the Phoenix defense.

Even with Will Barton making a return in Game 2, the Nuggets’ offense was heavily reliant upon the play of newly-crowned MVP Nikola Jokić. Posting 24, 13, and six, Jokic was effectively the only bright spot in what was a disappointing night for the remainder of Denver’s roster. The only player to shoot above 50 percent from the field (with the exception of garbage-time minutes from the reserves), Jokić lead the team in all three major stats, more than doubling whatever the next-best player managed to produce.

Much of how Phoenix plays and has played this entire year, forces Denver into uncomfortable situations. Millsap and Jokić are regularly forced to pick up on faster, more dynamic guards off of switches, leaving the guard to walk them back to the three-point line, clear out, and go to work. Even when Denver’s less flat-footed players get right up in the offense’s face, Phoenix seems more than willing to take, and make, heavily contested shots, like Paul shooting over the 6-foot-10 Michael Porter Jr. as if he were 5-foot-10 Facundo Campazzo.

On offense, with no Jamal Murray, the Nuggets rely on playing an inside-out game through Jokić, and it seems that Jokić being the sole producer and scorer is something that the Suns are more than comfortable with.

Phoenix has enough offensive weapons to ensure that every possession produces a good shot; whether that comes from Paul regularly snaking the pick-and-roll to get to his spot for a right-elbow pull-up jumper, Booker launching shots right past defenders, or Mikal Bridges putting up threes with regularity off screens. While Nikola Jokić is more than capable of creating offense, it never seems to be quite as dynamic or fast-paced, allowing Phoenix to often run the ball at a speed, and draw fouls at a rate that the Denver Nuggets simply can’t match.

With Game 3 looming, the Nuggets are facing a do-or-die situation. Going down 3-0 in a Playoff series spells certain doom for the trailing squad, as teams that fall to a 3-0 deficit have gone on to inevitably lose the series, every single time. As pivotal as Game 3 is, Denver is as full strength as they could be, and if the past two outings are any indication, barring a total change, the mile-high city is poised to see what could be a 7-game series close in just 4. Jokić is indeed the MVP, and one of the most outstanding players in the game today, but playoff series are rarely willed to victory by one player.

The Suns will travel to Colorado to face off against the Nuggets in a decisive Game 3 of the Western Conference semifinals on Friday at Ball Arena.