The Phoenix Suns are the odds-on favorite to win the Western Conference. But they are far from a finished product.
Phoenix has Kevin Durant and Devin Booker, who have been a terrific in five playoff games together. Booker leads the NBA in postseason points per game (37.2) and Durant averaged 28.4 points, 7.6 rebounds and 5.2 assists in the team’s first-round series against the Los Angeles Clippers.
Behind Phoenix’s star duo is a bench that has not been competitive enough for the team’s championship hopes. The Suns’ bench has the second-fewest points of any squad this postseason (72), has had questionable rotation decisions and is not doing enough to spell its stars.
Phoenix coach Monty Williams has made controversial decisions to some, employing backup guard Landry Shamet — who had just seven points on 3-of-14 in the first round against the Clippers — and not other scorers like Terrence Ross and T.J. Warren.
Durant and Booker have carried a great load, ranking first and second among all postseason players in minutes per game (43.8, 43.2).
Phoenix’s first-round series against the first-seeded Denver Nuggets will test its depth. The Nuggets are healthy for the first time since 2021, when guard Jamal Murray suffered a torn ACL.
Denver center Nikola Jokic, who averaged 26.2 points on 48.5 percent shooting, 12.4 rebounds and 9.0 assists in the Nuggets’ first-round series against the eighth-seed Minnesota Timberwolves, is one of the best players in the NBA. But he will not be the Suns’ biggest concern in a series that will determine one qualifying team for the Western Conference Finals.
The Suns’ bench needs to be better
Phoenix traded for Durant from the Brooklyn Nets Feb. 8 for a colossal package that included forwards Mikal Bridges, Cam Johnson and Jae Crowder — who had not played for the team this season due to reported disputes for losing his starting role and not receiving a contract extension — and other draft capital.
The Suns’ rotation was gutted without Johnson, who was a reliable, growing player who ascended to the starting lineup this season. Bridges was last year’s Defensive Player of the Year runner-up and has now found a very big role with the Nets. Crowder, who was estranged from the team this offseason, was a 3-point and defensive threat in his two seasons with the team.
The Suns’ bench, which was deep last season, is now thinner. Cameron Payne has the most experience, but he only played three minutes in the team’s Game 5 win against the Clippers. Payne missed the previous five games with lower back soreness.
No Suns bench player remaining behind Payne (10.3 points per game) has averaged double figures in scoring.
Denver is not as deep as the Clippers, who have several stingy guards off the bench and saw coach Ty Lue mix lineups that Williams said created trouble. Bruce Brown is the Nuggets’ leading scorer off the bench (11.4 points this postseason) and they also have Jeff Green (22.6 minutes per game in their first-round series) and Christian Braun (12.6 points) produce.
Denver will rely heavily on its half-court offense to try and beat the Suns. Can Phoenix get enough behind its stars to beat the No. 1 seed in the West?
The Suns and Nuggets play Game 1 of their series at Ball Arena in Denver Saturday at a time to be determined.
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