Phoenix Suns - Weekly Roundup - Week 25
- Matt Elvy
- Apr 11, 2023
- 4 min read
Join us as we review the highs and lows of the last week, as well as previewing the week ahead.
Week 25: 2-9 April 2023
Week Record: 2-2
Overall Record: 45-37. 4th in the Western Conference.
Games Played and Results:
W - 115 - 94 Vs San Antonio Spurs
W - 119 - 115 Vs Denver Nuggets
L - 107 - 121 Vs Los Angeles Lakers
L - 114 - 119 Vs LA Clippers
Centre of The Sun
The Suns extended their winning streak to 7 games, to lock in the 4th seed and homecourt advantage in the 1st round of the Playoffs. This happened after their win mid-week against the Nuggets, who were without all their key players. The Suns then followed the same tactics in their final 2 games of the week, resting Book, KD, CP3 & Ayton.
For us fans it was then a waiting game to see who are opponent in the 1st round would be. It all came down to complicated tie breaker mathematics between the Clippers, Warriors and Pelicans. After struggling to defeat our bench guys, it ended up being the Clippers.
Superstar Watch (Season stats):
Devin Booker - 27.8 Points, 4.5 Rebounds, 5.5 Assists, 1.0 Steal, 49.4 FG%, 35.1 3PT FG% & 2.7 Turnovers
Kevin Durant - 29.1 Points, 6.7 Rebounds, 5.0 Assists, 0.7 Steal, 1.4 Blocks, 56.0 FG%, 40.4 3PT FG% & 3.3 Turnovers
Deandre Ayton - 18.0 Points, 10.0 Rebounds, 1.7 Assists, 0.6 Steals, 0.8 Blocks, 58.9 FG%, 29.2 3PT FG% & 1.8 Turnovers
Chris Paul - 13.9 Points, 4.3 Rebounds, 8.9 Assists, 1.5 Steals, 44.0 FG%, 37.5 3PT FG% & 1.9 Turnovers
Scorching Suns:
Chris Paul
He only played in 2 games, as mentioned before, but CP3 played great in them. He topped 20 points for the first time since January and tied a Regular Season career high seven 3-pointers against the Nuggets.
His stats for the week:
23.5 Points, 4.0 Rebounds, 2.5 Assists, 1.0 Steal, 62.1 FG% & 61.1 3PT FG%.
Torrey Craig
Torrey was solid all week, hitting open shots and slashing from his preferred bench role and was our top scorer against the Lakers.
His stats for the week:
11.8 Points, 5.3 Rebounds, 1.5 Assists, 1.3 Blocks, 70.0 FG% & 45.5 3PT FG%.
Honourable Mention:
Jock Landale
Jock took the opportunity of extra minutes at the end of the week and ran with it. He was the focal point of the offense in the first few minutes against the Clippers as the roll man.
His stats for the week:
8.5 Points, 5.0 Rebounds, 1.5 Assists, 59.3 FG% & 50.0 3PT FG%.
Struggling Suns:
Ish Wainright
From Scorching last week to Struggling this week.
Ish did a pretty good job using his body to stay in front of Kawhi Leonard, but ultimately had a bad week shooting the ball.
His stats for the week:
2.3 Points, 2.8 Rebounds, 0.5 Assists, 18.8 FG% & 14.3 3PT FG%.
Stat Line(s) of the Week:
Chris Paul vs Denver Nuggets
Game stat line:
25 Points, 6 Rebounds, 2 Assists, 9/15 FGs (60.0%) & 7/12 3PT FGs (58.3%).
Honourable mentions:
Saben Lee vs LA Clippers
Lee had a career high 25 points and a season high 10 assists.
Game stat line:
25 Points, 3 Rebounds, 10 Assists, 2 Steals, 8/21 FGs (38.1%) & 3/8 3PT FGs (37.5%).
Upcoming Games:
For at least the next 4 games, we'll be facing the LA Clippers in the 1st round of the Playoffs.
Being a Pacific Division rival we've faced the Clippers 4 times. We took the first 2 games and they took the second 2 (the final loss of the season was by design though). In all those match-ups we didn't see both teams at full strength face each other. Either they had guys missing, or we did. Then to top it all both teams had quite big changes.
The Clippers changed point guards, trading John Wall and bringing in Russell Westbrook off the buy-out market and of course our whole team changed as we traded Mikal Bridges and Cam Johnson for Kevin Durant.
As we all know Kawhi Leonard is the Clippers' key player. He had a slow start to the season, but since All-Star break he's been almost unstoppable, averaging 27.1 points, 7.1 rebounds, 3.7 assists on 53.8 FG% and 47.0 3PT FG%.
Some storylines to look out for:
We eliminated the Clippers from the 2021 Western Conference Finals.
They're Chris Paul's former long-time team.
They play small-ball a lot, so it'll be a good opportunity for Ayton.
Kevin Durant vs Russell Westbrook.
Kevin Durant vs Kawhi Leonard (we haven't seen this in a while, as previewed by Kellan Olson - give this a read!).
Prediction:
Without Paul George, the Clippers are still quite a deep team, but we'll be ultimately too much for them.
Suns to win the series 4-1.
Predictions League:
🎉 Congratulations to Luke, who wins the league this season 🎉
Like the NBA's Playoff seeding, the league Championship came down to the final week. Luke was holding 1st going into the final week, but it was mathematically possible for Steve to take the top spot, but Luke held on.
Any Other Business:
Suns Announce New CEO
There wasn't a huge announcement and you'll be forgiven for missing it, but the Suns announced via their social media channels and website that Josh Bartelstein has been named CEO of the Suns and Mercury franchises.
This move was first reported by ESPN back at the beginning of March, but now it's official.
🚨 You can also use the code 'SUNSFANSUK' on The Throwback Store to receive a 10% discount on any order you make 🚨
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