With three straight wins, the Suns overthrew the Clippers, taking full advantage of Kawhi Leonard’s package for two games. The hardest part is almost done with this 3-1 lead.
Monty Williams must still watch his troops because he relies heavily on Kevin Durant, Devin Booker and Chris Paul. The proof: the first plays 44 minutes on average, the longest playing time in the playoffs, the second follows him with 42 minutes when the third spends 38 on the floors.
Isn’t that already a lot, especially for Kevin Durant and Chris Paul, 34 and 37, and faced with the energy of a Russell Westbrook who multiplies his efforts and never gives up?
“It concerns us, and it will continue as it accumulates”, assures the Phoenix coach at ESPN. “Afterwards, with a schedule where we play every other day, it’s complicated. There, we have two full days to recover (Game 5 is Tuesday). But otherwise, you can’t really manage. »
The former Brooklyn player, for example, played 45 minutes on Saturday evening. A rhythm to which he is certainly accustomed since it has been 13 playoff games in a row that he has exceeded 40 minutes, but how does he feel physically?
“How did I look tonight?” », asks the 2014 MVP, amused, after sticking 31 points at 9/17 in the shoot at the Clippers. ” I feel very good. I missed a lot of matches this season. I want to play every minute, I would like to play 48 minutes. »
The series script, with the Suns leading 3-1 and having home game point coming up, could allow Kevin Durant, Chris Paul, Devin Booker and company a quick breather, if qualification comes quickly. During meetings, Monty Williams already regularly takes the temperature of his stars, while on the other hand he has a hard time finding contributors capable of relieving them when they come off the bench to relieve them.
“When I talk to my players and people talk about the load of our guys, you have to remember that we are not in the regular season”, reminds the coach. “We don’t play at that pace. Charge and minutes may be a little different (with a lower rhythm and more insulation for example). »
| Shots | Bounces | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Players | GM | Minimum | Shots | 3 points | LF | Off | Def | Early | pd | bp | Int | CT | party | Points |
| Devin Booker | 53 | 34.6 | 49.4 | 35.1 | 85.5 | 0.9 | 3.7 | 4.5 | 5.5 | 2.7 | 1.0 | 0.3 | 3.0 | 27.8 |
| Kevin Durant | 8 | 33.7 | 57.0 | 53.7 | 83.3 | 0.4 | 6.0 | 6.4 | 3.5 | 2.5 | 0.3 | 1.3 | 0.9 | 26.0 |
| Deandre Ayton | 67 | 30.4 | 58.9 | 29.2 | 76.0 | 2.6 | 7.4 | 10.0 | 1.7 | 1.8 | 0.6 | 0.8 | 2.8 | 18.0 |
| Mikal Bridges | 56 | 36.4 | 46.3 | 38.7 | 89.7 | 1.0 | 3.3 | 4.3 | 3.6 | 1.4 | 1.2 | 0.8 | 2.1 | 17.2 |
| Cameron Johnson | 17 | 25.3 | 47.4 | 45.5 | 81.8 | 0.8 | 3.0 | 3.8 | 1.5 | 0.6 | 0.9 | 0.4 | 1.7 | 13.9 |
| Chris Paul | 59 | 32.0 | 44.0 | 37.5 | 83.1 | 0.5 | 3.8 | 4.3 | 8.9 | 1.9 | 1.5 | 0.4 | 2.1 | 13.9 |
| Cameron Payne | 48 | 20.2 | 41.5 | 36.8 | 76.6 | 0.3 | 2.0 | 2.2 | 4.5 | 1.7 | 0.7 | 0.2 | 1.8 | 10.3 |
| Terrence Ross | 21 | 18.4 | 42.8 | 34.7 | 85.7 | 0.6 | 2.7 | 3.3 | 2.0 | 0.3 | 0.5 | 0.1 | 2.1 | 9.0 |
| Landry Shamet | 40 | 20.2 | 37.7 | 37.7 | 88.2 | 0.3 | 1.4 | 1.7 | 2.3 | 0.9 | 0.7 | 0.1 | 1.5 | 8.7 |
| Damion Lee | 74 | 20.4 | 44.2 | 44.5 | 90.4 | 0.5 | 2.5 | 3.0 | 1.3 | 1.1 | 0.4 | 0.1 | 1.6 | 8.2 |
| Duane Washington, Jr. | 31 | 12.7 | 36.7 | 36.0 | 66.7 | 0.1 | 1.1 | 1.2 | 2.0 | 1.1 | 0.2 | 0.1 | 0.7 | 7.9 |
| Torrey Craig | 79 | 24.7 | 45.6 | 39.5 | 71.1 | 1.8 | 3.6 | 5.4 | 1.5 | 0.9 | 0.6 | 0.8 | 2.3 | 7.4 |
| Josh Okogie | 72 | 18.8 | 39.1 | 33.5 | 72.4 | 1.5 | 2.0 | 3.5 | 1.5 | 0.9 | 0.8 | 0.5 | 1.6 | 7.3 |
| Jock Landale | 69 | 14.2 | 52.8 | 25.0 | 75.2 | 1.7 | 2.3 | 4.1 | 1.0 | 0.9 | 0.2 | 0.4 | 1.8 | 6.6 |
| Saben Lee | 23 | 15.8 | 39.3 | 37.9 | 73.7 | 0.6 | 1.4 | 2.0 | 2.8 | 0.9 | 0.8 | 0.0 | 1.3 | 6.3 |
| Dario Saric | 37 | 14.4 | 42.7 | 39.1 | 81.8 | 1.1 | 2.8 | 3.8 | 1.5 | 1.0 | 0.4 | 0.1 | 1.9 | 5.8 |
| Bismack Biyombo | 61 | 14.3 | 57.8 | 0.0 | 35.7 | 1.5 | 2.8 | 4.3 | 0.9 | 0.8 | 0.3 | 1.4 | 1.9 | 4.3 |
| Tj Warren | 16 | 12.3 | 42.9 | 31.6 | 50.0 | 0.8 | 2.3 | 3.1 | 0.7 | 0.2 | 0.4 | 0.3 | 1.3 | 4.2 |
| Ish Wainright | 60 | 15.3 | 37.0 | 32.9 | 83.9 | 0.8 | 1.6 | 2.3 | 0.9 | 0.4 | 0.6 | 0.4 | 2.0 | 4.2 |
| Darius Bazley | 7 | 8.7 | 48.0 | 25.0 | 40.0 | 0.7 | 1.6 | 2.3 | 0.9 | 0.7 | 0.4 | 0.7 | 1.3 | 4.0 |
