Losses are very rarely all bad, and futures are very rarely all bleak, so it’s important to face down the positives to take into Game 2 as the Phoenix Suns look to bounce back against the Minnesota Timberwolves.
After all, even with how poorly the Suns did play, they were still in it for much of the second half.
One of the areas that stand out most in my mind is the glass, where Rudy Gobert dominated in a way most fans probably weren’t ready to accept. His 16 rebounds were more than half what the Suns accumulated as a team. Only Kevin Durant had a total rebounding total (seven) that surpassed Gobert’s offensive rebounding total (six) among Suns.
That’s the kind of thing I would imagine Jusuf Nurkic sees on a stat sheet and takes personally.
There was one regular season matchup where Nurkic outrebounded Gobert, a 10-point win on April 5 in which he won the margin 15-6. He lost the other two, 8-5 and 7-5.
Before posting five and four rebounds in his last two games, Nurkic had grabbed at least 10 in six straight games, a streak that capped a stretch with 18 double-digit games out of 22.
Devin Booker’s underwhelming showing is another big thing that will likely swing back the other way.
His 18-point showing was his worst in a Game 1 yet and the first to not surpass 20. Furthermore, seven of the points came in the fourth quarter, which the Suns entered down 92-72. The rest of the game, he made just three shots out of 13 attempts.
Booker has only twice had consecutive games below 20 points within a series (Games 3 and 4 vs. Los Angeles Lakers in 2021; Games 6 and 7 vs. Dallas Mavericks in 2022), and it’s not a safe bet that this will be his third. Plus, he’s currently on his second two-game streak of sub-35% shooting in his playoff career, and it’s not a safe bet that he’ll get to three.
Lastly, Anthony Edwards scored 33 points, including 18 in the third quarter, which alone passed up any regular-season total against Phoenix. If the Suns really did have something figured out against him in the regular season, it’s likely to pop back up as the series continues.
And when Draymond Green is calling out Kevin Durant (from the couch after losing in the Play-In) to thwart Edwards, who was talking a lot in Durant’s face as the Slim Reaper smiled through it, he has no choice but to rise to the occasion and put a stop to Edwards’ shot-making himself.
After the Game 1 loss, Bradley Beal called it a “feel-out” game, saying Phoenix will come back better and more prepared for Game 2.
But if these players aren’t able to step up to the task at hand, Minnesota could prove very quickly that its regular season was no fluke, finishing more or less at the top of an outrageously competitive Western Conference.
Sarah Wilson is your guide to the latest trends, viral sensations, and internet phenomena. With a finger on the pulse of digital culture, she explores what’s trending across social media and pop culture, keeping readers in the know about the latest online sensations.
