For Game 6 of the Western Conference playoffs against the Denver Nuggets on Thursday, the Phoenix Suns declared point guard Chris Paul ineligible and labeled center Deandre Ayton as questionable.
At the team's practice facility on Wednesday, Paul took part in a lengthy exercise, but coach Monty Williams said that "nothing has changed as far as availability."
Paul missed the final three games after suffering a left groin injury in Game 2 of the Western Conference Semifinals.
“He’s working out, but his status hasn’t changed,” Williams said. “He is doing more for sure. But I’m careful not to [speculate] because I haven’t had a report come to me that says, ‘OK, he’s 80%, 90%.’ I haven’t had that yet.”
Phoenix, which is down 3-2 in the Western Conference Semifinals, is in danger of going home after falling to the top-seeded Denver Nuggets 118-102 in Game 5 on Tuesday. Important players like star guard Devin Booker (left ankle) and center Deandre Ayton (ribs) were forced to play through minor injuries. Both seem to be ready for Game 6, according to Williams, who also mentioned that Ayton will "get [his injury] checked out today."
With 2.4 seconds left in Game 5, Booker stumbled after driving to the basket and landing awkwardly. After being fouled on the play by Jeff Green, the 26-year-old made a pair of free throws right away but left the game at the end of the first quarter.
With 8:49 remaining in the second quarter, Booker came back into the contest.
Even though the shooting guard claimed the ankle "felt fine," he walked around with a small limp in the postgame locker room.
Devin Booker's name did not appear on the injury report for Thursday.
Ayton, on the other hand, took a knee to the ribs from Bruce Brown in the first quarter, was replaced at the 2:50 mark, and came back with 8:15 remaining in the second.
Although those small wounds shouldn't prevent Booker or Ayton from playing, they do serve as a reminder of the brutality that is beginning to creep into a series that has already seen significant playing time from Phoenix's top players.
While Kevin Durant has clocked 42 minutes or more in all but one game of this series, Booker has yet to play less than 40 minutes in any of his 10 postseason appearances.
When opponents hold both Booker and Durant to fewer than 30 points, the Suns have a postseason record of 0-3 overall. It's important to consider whether Phoenix's dynamic scoring combo is beginning to suffer from the long playing time and roughness of the Nuggets.
“We took the challenge,” Denver coach Michael Malone said when asked how the Nuggets successfully held down the Sun's stars in Game 5. “[Kentavious Caldwell-Pope] was the defensive player of the game and I just felt he set the tone early on [in Game 5]. Booker’s a hell of a player. He has the respect of everybody in that locker room. But when you’re playing against a great player, you’ve got to get under their skin. You’ve got to get into them. You’ve got to make them feel you.”
That in turn made it difficult for Booker to stay in the groove. Together, Booker, Durant, and Ayton scored 66.7% of Phoenix's points for the game on a combined 18 of 43 shooting.
Denver, on the other hand, set postseason records in Game 5 for bench scoring (34 points) and fast break points (31) after starting the series with minus-29 in both categories. In Game 5, the nine Suns who played outside of Booker, Durant, and Ayton combined for 34 points, matching the output of the Nuggets' reserves Brown, Jeff Green, and Christian Braun.
“That’s who we are, and when we’re not running and we’re not defending, we’re going nowhere,” Malone said. “That’s what we have to do [in] Game 6 if we’re gonna try to close this series out. The defense has to be great; the rebounding has to be on point, and then get out and run and attack before they can get set.”
In Game 5, Williams referred to Phoenix's transition defense as "unacceptable based on our standards." But after five games in this series, the players on these teams are so familiar with one another that strategy is subordinated to the fundamentals of postseason basketball.
“Both teams have run enough sets and plays where we kind of understand each other. It’s will, it’s fighting, it’s physicality, being able to get the 50-50 balls and not get pushed off your spot,” Williams said. “All that stuff has nothing to do with a strategic play that you’ve run all season. It just becomes attrition, if you will, and you have to win that battle. I think we learned several things last night that we have to apply quickly tomorrow from a physicality standpoint. You learn some things, then you flush the game and try to apply what you’ve learned. That’s what we hope to do.”
Phoenix's current string of elimination games failures will carry on if not. Over the past three postseasons, the Suns have lost both of their elimination games, falling to Dallas at home in Game 7 of the 2022 Western Conference Semifinals after losing to Milwaukee in Game 6 of the 2021 NBA Finals the season before.
“You lose a game in the playoffs you can imagine there’s always remorse, frustration, all that stuff, and that’s normal for any competitive group,” Williams said. “I know the guys in the gym, they’re looking forward to tomorrow’s game. That’s why I enjoy the group we’ve had here because we really relish opportunities to bounce back. This is another opportunity for us to not just bounce back, but to do it in front of our home crowd.”
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