Nikola Jokic led both teams in scoring (29 points), rebounds (13), and assists (12)--his 10th career playoff triple double, breaking Wilt Chamberlain's record--as the Denver Nuggets took command early and breezed to a 118-102 win over the Phoenix Suns. Denver can close out the series and advance to the Western Conference Finals for the second time in four years by winning game six in Phoenix on Thursday night. Bruce Brown was sensational off of the bench, pouring in 25 points in 27 minutes, while Jamal Murray and Michael Porter Jr. scored 19 points each. The Nuggets outrebounded the Suns 50-42, and they held the Suns to .432 field goal shooting, which is impressive considering that the Suns have a high-powered offense and the Nuggets are not considered to be a great defensive team.
Devin Booker, who is leading the NBA in playoff scoring this season (35.9 ppg), "slumped" to a team-high 28 points on 8-19 field goal shooting, and Kevin Durant continued his puzzling inefficiency in this series, shooting 10-24 from the field to amass 26 points. Durant led the Suns with 11 rebounds and seven assists. Starting point guard Chris Paul missed his third straight game due to injury, a recurring theme throughout his playoff career. In the previous two games, the Suns scored 121 points and then 129 points to tie the series at 2-2 after falling behind 2-0 while averaging just 97 ppg in two losses. It is interesting to wonder how the Suns would have performed had Paul not sat out: would they have won two high scoring games with Booker and Durant both putting up big numbers, or would the Suns have continued to lose?
The narrative that often surrounds Paul's teams--and that has been promoted by "stat gurus" for his entire career--is that Paul's efficiency elevates everyone around him and is the driver of the offense. At the very least, in this small sample size of games we see that Booker, Durant, and the Suns are quite capable of scoring a ton of points--and twice beating the number one seed in the Western Conference--without Paul. That is not to suggest that Paul is a bad player or that his presence hurts his team, but it is to suggest that (1) his impact on team success is overrated and (2) to the extent that he impacts team success this impact is not consistently felt in the playoffs: Paul has been front and center for some embarrassing playoff debacles, including last year's 123-90 game seven loss at home to Dallas, and five blown 2-0 series leads (an NBA record for one player).
The Nuggets may be the most under the radar number one seed that we have seen in the NBA for quite some time--not that it matters too much what people who do not understand the sport think, but it is unusual that a consistently successful team led by a two-time regular season MVP is regarded so lightly. Considering the early elimination of the number one overall seed Milwaukee Bucks, and the shaky play of the Boston Celtics--who now trail 3-2 versus the Philadelphia 76ers--a logical argument could be made that the Nuggets should be considered the NBA championship favorites.