After two straight wins on their home court, the Phoenix Suns couldn't bring their momentum with them on the road. They were no match for the Denver Nuggets at Ball Arena once again, falling 118-102 in a lopsided game.
With the win, Denver took a 3-2 lead in the second-round series and pushed Phoenix to the brink of elimination. The home team has won each game in this series, which bodes well for the Suns in Game 6, but not so much for a potential Game 7. Before they can even think about winning the series, though, they have to rebound from another tough loss.
Basketball is a team game, and thus, every member of the Suns deserves blame to some extent for this loss. However, some players definitely deserve more blame than others. With that said, here are the three Suns most to blame for their Game 5 loss to the Nuggets.
3. Kevin Durant
Kevin Durant's stat line looks pretty good at first glance. In 42 minutes, the 6'10 superstar had 26 points, 11 rebounds, and seven assists, nearly posting a triple-double. The only Suns player to score more points for the Suns was Devin Booker with 28.
The reason why Durant lands on this list at all is due to his poor shooting, as he shot just 10-for-24 from the field and missed all three of his three-point attempts. Durant was also unusually poor from the free-throw line too, making just six of his nine attempts after he had only missed five free throws throughout the entire playoffs prior to this game. Finally, Durant also committed a game-high five turnovers.
Durant doesn't deserve too much blame for this loss, as the Suns' supporting cast was the main reason for the outcome. However, this was a disappointing follow-up after his monster performance in Game 4, when he scored 36 points on great efficiency. Phoenix will need that version of Durant to show up in Game 6 once again if they want to stave off elimination.
2. Deandre Ayton
To be fair to Deandre Ayton, he played through an injury he suffered early in this contest. However, his poor play has been a series-long problem for Phoenix, and Game 5 was no exception.
Ayton's stat line looks solid, as he made seven of his 12 field goals for 14 points, while also adding nine rebounds. Then you notice that he was a -21 in 32 minutes, and it starts to make sense why he's here.
Ayton has the unenviable task of defending Nuggets superstar center Nikola Jokic, and he has simply not done a good enough job to this point. The two-time MVP has dominated the series so far, while Ayton has been one of Phoenix's main problems. His lack of physicality against Jokic is desperately hurting the team, especially since backup center Jock Landale has done a much better job defending the Joker.
Total stats this series (5 games):
Deandre Ayton: 54 points, 41 rebounds and 6 assists
Nikola Jokic: 175 points, 69 rebounds and 50 assists pic.twitter.com/9dyBrDC1DQ
— NBA Retweet (@RTNBA) May 10, 2023
Considering how Ayton is supposed to be one of Phoenix's best players, he has had a brutal series. The former No. 1 overall pick desperately needs to step up down the stretch if Phoenix wants to win this series.
1. Landry Shamet
Landry Shamet came up huge for the Suns in Game 4. Coming off the bench, Shamet scored 19 points on six-of-nine shooting, including five-of-eight on three-pointers, and was a +15 in 30 minutes. He was a huge reason why Phoenix emerged with a 129-124 win despite Jokic scoring 53 points for the Nuggets.
Unfortunately, the same can't be said for Shamet's performance in Game 5. The former first-round pick came off the bench again, but this time only scored six points on two-of-six shooting in 23 minutes. He was also a -11, a significant drop from his great mark the game before.
If this game showed anything, it's that Booker and Durant need strong support around them. Shamet gave them that in Game 4, but failed to do so in Game 5. Really, most of Phoenix's bench players could take this spot, but Shamet's game-to-game drop sticks out like a sore thumb.
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