Durant's 22-21 win is too ruthless! KD revolutionized the sun? Paul was 37 years old because of his change of standard

This article was compiled from: The Athletic

Written by Doug Haller

原标题：The Phoenix Suns are set for the playoffs: Three early storylines to follow

Turn the clock back 30 years, on the closing day of the 1992-93 regular season, Charles Barkley changed in the visiting team's locker room in Denver. The Nuggets' Rauf had just pressed the whistle to kill the Suns, but no one cared.

The Suns, who had the best regular season record at the time, would have home court advantage throughout the playoffs. In the locker room, the mentality of the Suns players has changed dramatically. "It's funny," Barkley praised the Nuggets for winning, "but it's time to separate men from boys." ”

On the closing day of the 2022-23 season 30 years later, the Suns are in slightly different shape, and they are fourth in the West, but in a similar mentality. The Suns will face the Clippers in the playoff opener, and like Barkley's Suns that year, they will enter the playoffs as championship contenders. With a week to go until the playoffs kick off, here are three early storylines:

Durant revolutionized the Suns?

Except for the three weeks when he injured his ankle, Durant had the expected impact on the Suns. His projections improve the Suns' offensive prowess, giving teammates better shots. For example, 37-year-old Paul has become more accurate because Durant is around. Paul played in the last three regular season games, shooting 13 of 23 from three-point range. In the eight games played by Durant, Paul shot 40.8 percent from three-point range, an increase of 4 percentage points over games when Durant was not on the floor.

If Durant hadn't played just 47 games due to injury, he would have been firmly anchored in the MVP discussion. Durant, who was selected as an All-Star for the 13th time this season, shot 56% from the field, a career high, including 59.2% from 15 feet to 19 feet! In the eight games Durant's games, the Suns are 8-0. By the way, Durant's record in the past 22 games is 21-1, which is crazy!

In those eight games with the Suns, Durant averaged 26 points per game, shooting 57 percent from the field and 22 of 41 from three-point range, and he knew how to win in the playoffs. In this regard, perhaps there is no one in the league who can bring immediate help to a team more than Durant.

The Suns reached the Finals in 2021 but lost 4-2 to the Bucks, posting a league-best 64-18 last season, but fell to the Western Conference semifinals in a tie-for-seven. Now, Durant and Booker will make the sun more difficult to stop.

8-0 is not enough

In some ways, the sun hasn't been tested enough. Looking back at the 8 games that Durant has played, is the gold content enough?

In the first game against the Hornets, against a team that missed the playoffs, the Suns performed well in the final quarter to seal the victory; Game 2 against the Bulls, against a play-off team, the Suns won by 25 points in the second half; In the third game against the Lone Ranger, against a team that missed the playoffs, Durant played in the final quarter to seal the victory. Game 4 against the Timberwolves against a play-off team and Durant returned from an ankle injury.

In Game 5 against the Nuggets, the opponent was the top seed in the West, but the Nuggets did not play four starters; Game 6 against the Thunder, against a play-off team, Durant bombed 35 points; In the seventh game against the Spurs, the opponent was a team that missed the playoffs, and soon led by a big margin; In Game 8, the Nuggets played again, and this time none of their five starters played.

Therefore, in this way, the Suns' 8-0 gold content should be discounted, and it must be admitted that the "ABCD" combination has the potential to win the championship, but the 8 games they have cooperated with are still too small and the opponents are not strong enough.

Can adversity be turned into rewards?

Monty has no interest in reviewing the regular season, and now his focus is on the playoffs and the Clippers. He acknowledged one thing, though: The Suns' adversity this season could turn into playoff returns. Last season, the Suns' regular season went too well, which was great, but Monti said they may not have been under enough pressure as a result.

This time the situation is obviously different from last season. The Suns have struggled with injuries throughout the season, with Cam Johnson (who has been traded to the Nets), Booker and Paul all absent for a long time. Durant struggled to recover from a knee injury, twisted his ankle after warming up, and missed the game.

"I think you grow under that pressure," said Monti, who also said he knew more about certain players this season as other factors such as injuries forced him to use more players.

The good news for the Suns is that they are currently in relatively healthy condition, especially with several starters getting enough rest. Monti lamented: "Playing this time of the year, everyone has some injuries to a greater or lesser extent, and I think any time you go into the playoffs with close to 100% fitness, you feel good. ”