The Phoenix Suns entered the 2023 NBA playoffs with high hopes. In fact, the Suns have not known hope like this in quite a while, as the addition of Kevin Durant has made them one of the favorites to win it all, even if it came at the expense of their depth. However, the more things change, the more things stay the same, and the Suns, after bowing out of the 2022 NBA playoffs in embarrassing fashion, proceeded to fall flat on their faces once again in an elimination game at home.
It's not quite clear what's in the air in Phoenix, Arizona whenever the Suns' season is on the line, but whatever it is, it turns even their best players to shells of themselves. The end result is dire; the Suns went down by 30 points at halftime yet again, nearly a year to the day they crapped themselves against the Dallas Mavericks. The Suns team played with an alarming lack of urgency, turning the ball over and over again and waltzing into bad shots like their season wasn't at stake.
And unlike last year, the Suns won't have Deandre Ayton to blame for a lackluster showing. Ayton may deserve blame for sitting out with an injury, but it's not fair to rag on someone who's hurting. Meanwhile, Chris Paul wasn't around as well to hit a three-pointer to cut the lead to 42.
Even then, as the Suns showed in Games 3 and 4, they still are very capable of claiming victories over the Nuggets, favorites as they may be in the series. Thus, this makes the Suns' Game 6 showing even more pathetic, and, for once, it might be fair to play the blame game.
Here are the two Suns most to blame for their embarrassing Game 6 defeat to the Nuggets.
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Devin Booker
Even to those who don't appreciate Devin Booker's brashness on the court, which shows in his tendency to show up the opposing team in critical moments, it will be difficult for them to admit that the Suns star hasn't had one of the greatest postseason scoring binges in recent memory. The Suns may have gone down 3-2 in the series, but Booker's the main reason that they even won two games in the first place, what with his incredibly efficient scoring outbursts in Games 3 and 4.
And it wasn't like Booker was this one-dimensional scoring force; after years of receiving criticism for his lack of defensive impact, he has emerged as the Suns' best perimeter defender, able to body up opposing ballhandlers, poke the ball loose off unsuspecting opponents, and even rise up for some chasedown rejections.
But in Game 6, watching Devin Booker play would make one wonder whether the movie “Invasion of the Body Snatchers” or perhaps even “Space Jam” had come to life. Booker played terribly with their season at stake against the Nuggets, scoring just 13 points on 4-12 shooting, a performance that almost rivals the putridity he showed in their Game 7 demise against the Mavs last year.
Booker simply did not have the scoring touch, and it became evident that the Nuggets defense wasn't about to give him any chance to build a rhythm. At the very least, Booker did not have to wait until the third quarter to score his first field-goal of the game, unlike in their meltdown on May 15, 2022.
Devin Booker simply may have just run out of steam after logging heavy minutes throughout this postseason. Game 6 against the Nuggets was the only game he failed to eclipse the 40-minute mark during the 2023 NBA playoffs, and that was because the game was out of reach. But a player of his caliber doesn't have any excuses to play this poorly, especially given what's likely to happen if he fails to show up. And fail to show up he did.
Kevin Durant
Adding Kevin Durant was supposed to be the ultimate insurance policy for the Suns; after their embarrassing exit against the Mavs last year, it's not too difficult to envision the Suns bouncing back with Durant in town, as it gives them (at the very least) two elite shot creators to shield against the possibility of any team using the Mavs' tactic of loading up on the strong side to force them into difficult cross-court passes.
However, this would only work if Durant was making shots. But for one of the greatest scorers of all time to struggle like he did in the first half of Game 6 against the Nuggets? That will make it hard for any team to win a ballgame, much less a team that was as locked-in as the Nuggets were during that contest.
Durant made just two of his 11 shot attempts in the first half as the Suns went down by 30, and by the time he was making shots, the Nuggets have already booked their tickets for Cancun.
There's no questioning Kevin Durant's talent. But for him to put up two disappointing playoff runs in a row, especially when he's getting up there in age, would prompt some very pressing questions regarding the Suns' future.
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