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The Phoenix Suns head into Sport 6 of their second-round sequence at dwelling towards the Denver Nuggets Thursday night time down 3-2.
Phoenix must win this recreation to drive a Sport 7 again in Colorado and keep away from elimination after dropping Tuesday night time.
Sadly, the Suns are going to be with out future Corridor of Fame level guard Chris Paul for this all-important matchup. Sidelined since struggling a groin damage in Sport 2, Paul has formally been dominated out for Thursday night time’s outing, per ESPN’s Tim MacMahon.
Regardless of CP3 doing every little thing attainable to return for the elimination recreation, issues have been trending on this route for a while. Usually, groin strains of this ilk prices a participant a number of weeks of motion. Given Paul’s superior age of 38, that’s magnified additional.
In talking to the media earlier on Wednesday, Suns head coach Monty Williams appeared to counsel {that a} Paul return for Sport 6 probably wasn’t within the playing cards. When requested about Paul’s standing, Williams advised reporters that “nothing has modified.”
The bigger problem right here is the standing of middle Deandre Ayton. He’s being listed as questionable with a rib contusion, per MacMahon. Ayton is Phoenix’s third-leading scorer within the sequence — behind Devin Booker and Kevin Durant — averaging a mere 10.8 factors per recreation.
Of the gamers out there for Sport 6, Landry Shamet at 8.0 factors per recreation could be the Suns’ main scorer behind Booker and Durant if Ayton is unable to go. It could additionally result in some main matchup points on the defensive finish of the court docket with two-time NBA MVP Nikola Jokic averaging a triple-double at 35.0 PPG, 13.8 RPG and 10.0 APG within the sequence.
Phoenix Suns look to stave off elimination with out Chris Paul
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