NBA Western Conference Round 2 Preview: Nuggets vs. Suns

In terms of pure star power, you couldn’t ask for a better series than the second-round matchup between the Denver Nuggets and Phoenix Suns. 

Nikola Jokic, Kevin Durant, Devin Booker and Canada’s Jamal Murray are just a few of the household names that can even the most casual of basketball fans excited. Add in one of the greatest point guards to ever play the game in Suns guard Chris Paul, and the matchup seems almost too good to be true.    

And what’s even better, is that both teams come in rested and healthy with not a single player from either team being on the Game 1 injury report. Which unfortunately can’t be said for every team in this year’s NBA Playoffs — just ask the Los Angeles Clippers.

Ever since the Western Conference brackets were released, this was the second-round matchup everyone had circled. The conference's No. 1 seeded Nuggets, versus the Suns — the conference's betting favourite.

To get you set for this heavyweight showdown, we look at one burning question for each team, and one series x-factor who could swing the series.  

Series Overview

Regular season series: Tied 2-2

Odds to win series: Suns -147 | Nuggets +110 (via Sports Interaction)

Series Schedule:

Game 1: Saturday, April 29 @ Denver, 8:30 p.m. ET
Game 2: Monday, May 1 @ Denver, 10 p.m. ET
Game 3: Friday, May 5 @ Phoenix 10 p.m. ET
Game 4: Sunday, May 7 @ Phoenix 8 p.m. ET
Game 5: Tuesday, May 9 @ Denver, TBD
Game 6: Thursday, May 11 @ Phoenix, TBD
Game 7: Sunday, May 14 @ Denver, TBD

Prediction: Suns over Nuggets in seven games

Burning Question — Phoenix Suns: Will their lack of depth come back to haunt them? 

There is no question about it, the Suns are a title-or-bust team this season. 

After falling short in the NBA Finals two seasons ago, Phoenix put all their chips on the table when they made a blockbuster move for Durant in early February. 

To acquire one of the greatest scorers in league history, the Suns understandably had to give up a king’s ransom. They added Durant, but lost a boatload of picks and scoring depth in the process. 

Even an undermanned Clippers squad managed to expose the Suns’ bench units, as after Round 1 the Suns bench currently ranks ninth with a net rating of -1.7, while Denver’s reserves had a 5.6 net rating, the second-best mark through Round 1. 

So how do the Suns counter?   

Well, head coach Monty Williams has just decided to play his starters more, as Durant and Booker currently sit one and two respectively in minutes played per game in the playoffs. Durant is averaging an absurdly high 43.8 minutes per game. 

This may have worked against an injured Clippers squad that you can put to bed in five games, but the Nuggets will be a much stiffer challenge, with many predicting this series to go the distance. 

Will the Suns' starters have the legs if the series goes to a Game 7? There is no questioning their talent, but the playoffs are a marathon, not a sprint. And all those minutes could very well catch up to the Suns in the end. 

Burning Question — Denver Nuggets: Can their defence hold up against Suns' dynamic duo? 

For all that talk of depth, when the two teams trot out their starting lineups, the Suns opening five contains two of the best pure scorers in today's game in Booker and Durant. Either one of them is capable of going nuclear at any point, and when they are both on their game the Suns are near impossible to beat. 

In the opening round, Booker and Durant became just the second duo to score at least 25 points in every game of a best-of-seven series.

Booker has been especially on his game this post-season, averaging 37.2 points per game which would've been good enough for the top spot, if it wasn’t for the second coming of Michael Jordan in Jimmy ‘Playoff’ Butler. There is also this overwhelming feeling that Durant has still yet to play his best basketball in a Suns uniform.

Add in Paul, who may not score like he used to, but still has elite basketball IQ and is currently fourth in assists per game (8.2) this post-season, and the Suns are downright scary offensively. They finished the opening round with a league-best 122.5 offensive rating, over three full points better than the second-place Heat.

Unfortunately for the Nuggets, they aren't a team necessarily known for their defensive prowess. Denver finished the season 15th in terms of overall defensive rating. Their offence is what carried them this season, but if they want to get into an arms race with the Suns, they most likely come out on the losing end.

Therefore, they need to step up defensively.

Nuggets forward Aaron Gordon will most likely spend the majority time of Durant, while Booker will see a heavy dose of Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and Bruce Brown. But forget the individual matchups, if Denver wants to slow down Durant and Booker, it will need to be a team effort.

The Nuggets will like their chances a lot more in this series if they can make both Durant and Booker be playmakers first, and put the shot-making in the hands of players like Josh Okogie and Torrey Craig instead.

Unfrotantley, that is much easier said than done.

Series X-Factor: Nuggets' Jamal Murray

Jokic is the Nuggets' best player. He may very well be the league's best player and has a chance to win a third-straight NBA MVP award this season.

But the Nuggets know what they are going to get out of their star big man. He's going to give them nearly a triple-double every game and make the lives of every Suns defender very difficult every time he steps on the floor.

But Denver needs another star to help Jokic counter the Suns' dynamic duo, and there is no better man for the job than Kitchener's Jamal Murray.

After spending nearly two full seasons working his way back from a devastating knee injury he suffered just prior to the 2021 NBA playoffs, Murray is finally starting to once again look like the superstar that made waves in the NBA's bubble playoffs back in 2020, and earned him the nickname "Bubble Murray."

That post-season, Murray helped carry the Nuggets to the Western Conference Finals where they would lose to the eventual champion Los Angeles Lakers.

Through five games this post-season, the 26-year-old guard is averaging 25.2 points, 6.4 assists and 5.6. Murray also seems to thrive under playoff pressure, as his career playoff scoring average of 24.7 points per game is leaps and bounds above his career regular-season average of 16.9.

He clearly has no problem elevating his game when the lights are the brightest. And the Nuggets are going to need exactly that from him.

Because Jokic is going to Jokic, but Murray's performance one way or the other will be what decides the series for Denver.