It will be a different challenge to produce that sort of basketball at Ball Arena. That said, Paul's absence did allow the Suns to play quicker and that helped their scoring. The 38-year-old may not be at the elite level these days, but he still knows a thing or two about good defence and his presence may have helped. They cannot afford for game five to look anything like games one and two, so the momentum of back-to-back wins could be helpful.Ĭhris Paul is likely to be out for game five. The Suns have to win a game on the road to win this series. It's arrived now, but is it here to stay? The pair have taken over with 35 assists, while KD has pulled in 20 rebounds.īooker has been scoring all series, but he didn't have the help that you'd expect from a big-name player like Durant in the first two games. Kevin Durant and Devin Booker have combined to score 158 points across the two games, with Booker scoring marginally more. Phoenix were able to score 121 and 129 points in game three and four respectively as the Nuggets struggled to contain their explosive offence. Returning to Ball Arena, SX.Bet have made Denver Nuggets a -5.5 favourite. If games one and two looked like they were played in Denver's way, then games three and four had the Suns stamp on them. Suns are 1-4ATS in their last five games following an ATS win.ĭenver Nuggets -5 Suns at Nuggets - Game Five verdict Suns are 1-8ATS in their last nine games as an underdog. Nuggets are 5-2ATS in their last seven playoff games as a favourite. Nuggets are 7-3ATS in their last 10 after allowing 125+ points in their previous game. At BetRivers, you can grab a two-leg, five-point teaser at +120, reducing the Nuggets’ point spread to -1 and the over to 222.5.After Denver dominated defensively and took a 2-0 series lead at home, Phoenix 120 plus points in consecutive games to tie this NBA playoff 2-2 at home. Thus, I don’t see any reason for the Suns to deviate from that style after winning back-to-back games.īased on my projections, I’ll look to swing the odds in my favor even more by targeting a teaser for this game. Suns backup point guard Cameron Payne is now running the offense with Chris Paul (groin injury) still sidelined. This strategy is crucial because those shots help reserve players build their confidence. Nonetheless, I expect the Suns to continue playing quickly to get easier buckets in transition. However, as good as their performance was in Game 4, bench players tend to struggle when playing away from their home arena in a hostile environment.Īs a result, I don’t believe we’ll see the same production level from the Suns’ bench in Game 5. Suns head coach Monty Williams finally got some production from his reserves because he was brave enough to go deeper into his bench to find a solution. But what often happens is that if a bench player struggles, his performance could reflect poorly on the other players, thus hindering their opportunities. I’ve always believed that coaches must instill confidence in their bench by committing to putting those players in the game. Phoenix got 40 points from its backups in Game 4, compared with just 11 points from Denver’s reserves. Laying six points in this spot feels a bit steep when you figure that the Suns have finally figured out their bench. The bookmakers opened with the Nuggets as four-point favorites, but that number has already been bet to -6. That number is slightly below my projection for the game as my blended model has the Nuggets ranging between a 4.5- and 5-point favorite. If you look at the net rating between the two teams, the Nuggets still have the edge with a 3.5-point mark. With a bounce here and there, the Nuggets could have easily stolen one of those games on the road. Nuggets analysisĪlthough the Nuggets lost both games in Phoenix, I never once felt like they were utterly outclassed. 2-leg, 5-point teaser (+120): Nuggets -1 / over 222.5 points Suns vs.
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