The chess match between the Los Angeles Clippers and Phoenix Suns has officially begun, and Game 2 should create even more moves that will require counters. For Tyronn Lue's club, some of that will start with Torrey Craig.
Craig finished Game 1 with a playoff career-high 22 points on 9-of-12 shooting from the field and 2-of-4 from 3-point range. Coming into the season, Craig's career-high mark in scoring was 28, and he never scored more than 21 points in a game this season.
The Clippers' game plan, as expected, was to funnel the ball out of Kevin Durant and Devin Booker's hands and make the other guys beat them. Craig's career game was not necessarily expected, and even the Suns forward admitted that he didn't see that coming.
“I mean, if [Ivica] Zubac was gonna be guarding me, yeah,” Torrey Craig quipped at Suns practice. “But nah, just trying to read the defense. See how they're playing us and the matchups. They tried to tweak it a little bit, it was a little weird but we made adjustments for that as well.”
Torrey Craig on whether he saw a playoff career-high 22 points coming in Game 1: “I mean, if Zubac was gonna be guarding me, yeah.” 💀 pic.twitter.com/bJqrZOMXUw
— PHNX Suns (@PHNX_Suns) April 17, 2023
The Suns have a clear four players they want to play heavy minutes in Kevin Durant, Devin Booker, Chris Paul and Deandre Ayton. In nine games with Kevin Durant, the Suns had been undefeated until Game 1 vs. the Clippers. Their struggle now appears to be figuring out who plays best with those four and while Phoenix staggers their stars.
Craig taking a large percentage of the team's shots is exactly what the Clippers will take: anyone but Kevin Durant and Devin Booker.
“We know CP, we know Book and we know KD, what they can do,” Clippers coach Tyronn Lue said after the Game 1 victory. “And [Torrey] Craig has been playing great; nothing to take away from him. We want him taking more shots. You know, just try to keep the ball out of KD and Book's hands.
“Torrey played great tonight and hats off to him. You want to see guys play well, not win, but I want to — like I said he played well, and they did a good job of just running actions for him and getting a couple shots, and he played well, but trying to take the ball out of KD and Book's hands as much as possible.”
He's not going to say it, but this was essentially Tyronn Lue's way of saying, ‘Alright. You made shots, and we'll live with it. Now do it again.'
Game 2 between the Clippers and Suns will tip off on Tuesday night at 10 p.m. PT on TNT and Bally Sports.
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