Four storylines to watch ahead of a decisive Nuggets-Suns Game 3

Despite rostering the back-to-back MVP (before Joel Embiid took the crown) and finishing the season as the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference, the Denver Nuggets weren’t exactly a trendy pick when it came to choosing which team would represent the West in the NBA Finals.

They closed out the season going 5-5 in their last 10 and fell out of the top tier for championship contenders, with oddsmakers choosing to roll with the Golden State Warriors or Phoenix Suns instead. 

Did people forget what this team could do when they actually tried?

If that’s the case, now is certainly the time to tune back in and recognize just how legitimate this Nuggets team is as the 2-0 lead they’ve built on the Phoenix Suns is starting to look like a reassertion of their dominance in the West this season. 

The Suns meanwhile aren’t looking like the team that was promised. The pairing of Devin Booker and Kevin Durant, though inarguably a feast for the eyes, has made fans look at them with rose-tinted glasses, choosing to ignore the glaring holes this roster presents. 

As they head to Arizona for a decisive Game 3, the Suns find themselves in a must-win scenario against a foe unwilling to let up the pressure. Here are four storylines to keep an eye on in a championship-altering Game 3, which you can watch on Sportsnet 360 or SN NOW at 10 p.m. ET / 7 p.m. PT. 

The Suns were never deep. All you have to do is look at who has started games for them this season to get a grasp of how top-heavy the squad is.

Torrey Craig, whose first season in the Association came at age 27, started 60 games, the most he’s had in his career and the second-most on the team. Josh Okogie, who has never averaged even nine points, started 26. Bismack Biyombo, who averaged 4.3 points a game this season, started 14. 

One more name is now crossed off their list of reliable starters, with Chris Paul set to be out until at least Game 5 after suffering an ankle injury in Game 2.

As far as Chris Paul seasons go, this hasn’t been his best, as the 12-time All-Star has averaged a career-low 13.9 points on .440/.375/.831 shooting splits. However, his role as the floor general and lead playmaker for the team is still clear, as the “Point God” has dished out 8.9 assists a game in his age-37 season. 

The Suns are also a team reliant upon creating good looks in the mid-range, and Paul was a key piece to that strategy with 58.3 per cent of the guard’s shots coming from that spot. 

However, their mid-range game hasn’t been great against the Nuggets, as Denver struggles more against spaced floors. Will the Suns instead opt for more three-point looks, replacing Paul with a more adept catch-and-shoot threat like Damion Lee while Booker becomes the lead guard?

Whoever it is, with the floor general relegated to a role on the bench, it’ll be interesting to see how the ball moves for the Suns in Game 3.

Suns centre Deandre Ayton has been utterly overmatched so far this series. 

Putting up a fight against a two-time MVP was always going to be a tall task, but Ayton has shrunk so far, averaging 14 points, 7.5 rebounds and 0.5 blocks in the two games. His advanced numbers are worse, as he’s only grabbing 13.7 per cent of available rebounds while on the floor compared to the absurd 27.1 per cent Jokic is securing. 

It’s been rough for the former No. 1 overall pick, as he’s seen a diminished role while sharing the floor with isolation-dominant players like Booker and Durant. However, the Suns are still running a ton of pick-and-roll, Ayton’s bread and butter.

Now, without his primary pick-and-roll partner in Paul, it’s hard to see a way Ayton fits into the Suns’ offence. Throughout the regular season, Paul threw nearly 16 per cent of his passes to Ayton, averaging 2.2 assists per game, the most of any target, while the big man averaged 54.5 per cent on looks assisted by Paul. 

Ayton’s presence on this team will come into question as Jokic will attempt to continually dominate him down low. If he can’t defend his counterpart and can no longer score on his preferred look, what will come of Ayton?

Kevin Durant has averaged 26.5 points a game against the Nuggets, certainly a hard number to poke holes in. But let’s do it anyways. 

Expectations for Durant were certainly higher coming into this series, as the Nuggets' defence throughout the regular season hasn’t been world-breaking. 

It was thought that Durant would be his usual self: an assassin from every part of the floor, using his ranginess to take over games alongside partner-in-crime Devin Booker. But so far it’s been the Booker show more than anything else. 

Despite his 26.5 a night, he’s doing it on under 48 per cent from the field and only 20 per cent from long range. The Suns as a whole have struggled from deep, with the team shooting 24.1 per cent from beyond the arc. 

His advanced metrics are even worse, as the Slim Reaper is sporting a 95 offensive rating (127 in the regular season with Phoenix), .511 effective field goal percentage (.656 in the regular season) and a .545 true shooting percentage (.697 in the regular season). 

Could it be the outcome of playing double duty as the team’s best defender? So far he’s averaging a team-high 2.5 blocks and 1.0 steals per game. Or could it be the fault of Aaron Gordon who’s doing a great job defending Durant, holding the superstar to nine points per game in 46.9 partial possessions defended. 

Either way, Durant will need to make a larger, more efficient mark in Game 3 if the Suns intend to steal one back from the Nuggets. 

In Game 1, Kitchener native Jamal Murray forced NBA fans to remember just how deadly he can be in big games, scoring 34 points while going 6-for-10 from deep and dishing out nine assists. 

It wasn’t even Jokic’s doing, as the big man only dished out two assists to his guard. Instead, the ball was in Murray’s hands, breaking down the Suns’ defence with stellar isolation scoring, showing off his absurd step-back jumper and actually assisting on five of Jokic’s baskets. 

When the two stars work in tandem, the Nuggets are a well-oiled machine and one that the Suns don’t have the defensive personnel to work against. 

Then in Game 2, Murray went into a slump, scoring only 10 points on a paltry 3-for-15 from the field and 0-for-9 from deep. Even in his worst game though, the Nuggets found a way to win. 

Jokic, as he’s proven to be all year, is as consistent as it gets, showcasing an ability to score when it’s needed or to rebound, assist and be a mass of gravity when that’s needed. 

Though much more inconsistent, Murray has shown a talent for taking over games in the past. If he’s back on that wavelength for Game 3, do the Suns even stand a chance?