The Phoenix Suns find themselves backed into a corner in the 2023 NBA playoffs after getting beaten badly by the Denver Nuggets. The Suns trail 3-2 despite a spectacular series from Devin Booker. Having no answers from Nikola Jokic and a poor series from Deandre Ayton has Phoenix on the brink of elimination.
Ayton has been under fire for his underwhelming play against the Nuggets and now may be dealing with an injury. After taking a knee to his midsection on a drive from Bruce Brown, he stayed down and was very slow to get back on offense. He didn't make a big deal about it after the Suns' loss.
Deandre Ayton was in pain from his bandaged lower right rib cage at his locker after Game 5.
Ayton said he’s “fine” from the “bone-on-bone” collision with Nuggets’ Bruce Brown, who kneed him as Brown drove to the hole in 1Q. Ayton couldn’t run back on offense after that play. pic.twitter.com/PLUfA6yNM0
— DANA (@iam_DanaScott) May 10, 2023
“I feel good,” Ayton said. “It's just that everybody thinks it knocked the wind out of me. It was like a bone-on-bone type of thing where it hurt. I had my breath, it was just hurting a little bit where I couldn't even close out. I just needed a minute or two. But, you know, it's the playoffs. You've got to get up. You've got to get up and do something. I love this, man. They did their job at home and now we gotta handle ours at home.”
The Suns, Ayton said, will feel the adrenaline when they return home and play with more urgency to stave off elimination and force a Game 7. He said that the team is “very confident” that it can fix its mistakes and win on Thursday.
Ayton's frustrating moments — namely his refusal to get back into a play to contest Jokic for a layup, getting punked on the boards by the vastly undersized Bruce Brown and playing so poorly that Jock Landale played over him in crunch time of Game 3's win — have turned Suns fans on him. After a standoff this past offseason, his future with the team seems even bleaker.
For the time being, though, Ayton has to be there for the Suns in Game 6 as long as he is not too injured to play. Chris Paul could return from a groin injury but the entire team will need to step up like did in the two wins from this series.
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