It seems like a long time ago that Denver took a 2-0 lead versus Phoenix. Devin Booker (36 points on 14-18 field goal shooting) and Kevin Durant (36 points on 11-19 field goal shooting) led the way as the Suns beat the Nuggets 129-124 to tie the series at 2-2 and set up a critically important game five in Denver. The Suns' thin bench has been a problem since the Suns traded away several players to acquire Durant, so it seemed like the groin injury suffered by Chris Paul in game two that has forced him to miss games three and four would be a fatal blow--but without the aging Paul the Suns are pushing the ball up the court and creating easier scoring opportunities. Also, in game four Landry Shamet scored 19 points as the Nuggets unsuccessfully employed an "anyone but Booker or Durant" defense that intentionally left him open; that strategy failed because, as the above numbers show, the Nuggets not only failed to contain Booker and Durant but they enabled a third scorer to join the party.
Through the first nine games of a playoff season, few players have scored more points than Devin Booker has in the 2023 playoffs (331, 36.8 ppg), and no one who scored more than Booker had a higher field goal percentage than his .617. In the four games versus the Nuggets, Booker is averaging 36.3 ppg on .637 field goal shooting. It is fair to say that playing alongside Durant (who is averaging 32.0 ppg on .469 field goal shooting versus the Nuggets) has unleashed Booker's already potent offensive game. In the Suns' 121-114 game three win, Booker poured in 47 points while Durant added 39 points. Booker's 2023 playoff scoring is on a tier shared with only Wilt Chamberlain, Elgin Baylor, Jerry West, and Michael Jordan.
The Nuggets wasted a great performance by Nikola Jokic, who scored 53 points on 20-30 field goal shooting while also passing for 11 assists. The only center who scored more points in a playoff game is Wilt Chamberlain, whose 56 points on March 22, 1962 set the NBA's single game playoff record that stood for less than a month before sublime forward Elgin Baylor scored 61 points in game five of the 1962 NBA Finals. Jokic is putting up his own historic numbers in this series, averaging 36.5 ppg on .570 field goal shooting while leading both teams in rebounding (14.0 rpg) and assists (9.5 apg). In game three, Jokic had 30 points, 17 rebounds, and 17 assists.
Jamal Murray had 28 points and seven assists, but no other Nugget scored more than 11 points. Murray is having an excellent series (26.0 ppg, 7.3 apg, 5.0 rpg), but the Nuggets need more consistent production from other players in order to counter the Booker-Durant pyrotechnics.
A bizarre play happened with 2:36 remaining in the second quarter and the Nuggets leading, 55-54. After the ball sailed out of bounds near the baseline, Phoenix owner Mat Ishbia refused to give the ball to Jokic. Jokic ripped the ball out of Ishbia's hands, and made light contact with Ishbia's chest, after which Ishbia flopped backwards as if he had been shot by a sniper. Meanwhile, another "fan" made contact with Jokic. The referees huddled together to sort things out, and decided to assess a technical foul against Jokic. The fan who made contact with Jokic was ejected, but Ishbia was not disciplined. After the game, Jokic mentioned that he thought that the NBA was supposed to protect players from the fans; Denver Coach Michael Malone made a similar point, noting that fans do not have a right to interfere in a game by holding on to the basketball and stating that this applies even if the fan is an NBA owner.
The NBA office should rescind Jokic's technical foul, and--at the very least--publicly reprimand Ishbia while making clear what consequences will be dealt out if any fan (including an owner) engages in similar conduct. If the NBA office does not act, look forward to many other owners and courtside fans interfering in games: that free point matters in a close game, that technical foul moved Jokic one step closer to being ejected (and, if not rescinded, adds to a tally that could result in an automatic suspension if he accumulates more than seven technical fouls during the playoffs), and yet Ishbia has faced no consequences for blatantly interfering in the game. Also, I have no idea what the gambling line was for this game, but it is easy to see how an extra point could have a significant financial impact for anyone who bet on this game, which highlights the risk that the league has taken by entangling itself with gambling.
Regarding the game and the series overall, there is a tendency to overreact to each individual game as if there has been a major momentum shift. These teams are evenly matched, albeit with different strengths and weaknesses. I picked Denver to win in seven games, so I did not expect a Denver sweep after the Nuggets won the first two games at home and I do not expect the Suns to win out the rest of the way after winning their first two home games. It is normal for both teams to win games in playoff series, but in today's media world/social media world featuring hot takes that are a mile wide but only an inch deep people latch on to simple answers and biased narratives. Think about how crazy it is that three of the last four coaches who led teams to NBA titles (Mike Budenholzer, Frank Vogel, Nick Nurse) have been let go by the teams that they guided to the mountaintop; did all of those guys suddenly forget how to develop effective strategies and lead players? No, but we now live in a world that classifies every loss as a colossal failure for which blame must be assigned instead of as a step in a growth process. Many of the greatest coaches of all-time in a variety of sports took several years to win their first championship; in today's environment, would John Wooden, Tom Landry, Don Shula, Dean Smith, or Larry Brown have lasted long enough to put together their Hall of Fame resumes?