NBA playoff preview and tips: Phoenix Suns at Denver Nuggets - Game Five
- George Dempsey
- 9 May 2023
Denver Nuggets and Phoenix Suns are tied at 2-2 in their NBA playoff with both teams winning their home games. The action returns to Ball Arena in Denver for game five.
After Denver dominated defensively and took a 2-0 series lead at home, Phoenix 120 plus points in consecutive games to tie this NBA playoff 2-2 at home.
Standout Trends
Nuggets are 7-3ATS in their last 10 after allowing 125+ points in their previous game.
Nuggets are 5-2ATS in their last seven playoff games as a favourite.
Suns are 1-8ATS in their last nine games as an underdog.
Suns are 1-4ATS in their last five games following an ATS win.
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Suns at Nuggets - Game Five verdict
If games one and two looked like they were played in Denver's way, then games three and four had the Suns stamp on them. Returning to Ball Arena, SX.Bet have made Denver Nuggets a -5.5 favourite.
Phoenix were able to score 121 and 129 points in game three and four respectively as the Nuggets struggled to contain their explosive offence.
Kevin Durant and Devin Booker have combined to score 158 points across the two games, with Booker scoring marginally more. The pair have taken over with 35 assists, while KD has pulled in 20 rebounds.
Booker has been scoring all series, but he didn't have the help that you'd expect from a big-name player like Durant in the first two games. It's arrived now, but is it here to stay?
The Suns have to win a game on the road to win this series. They cannot afford for game five to look anything like games one and two, so the momentum of back-to-back wins could be helpful.
Chris Paul is likely to be out for game five. The 38-year-old may not be at the elite level these days, but he still knows a thing or two about good defence and his presence may have helped.
That said, Paul's absence did allow the Suns to play quicker and that helped their scoring. It will be a different challenge to produce that sort of basketball at Ball Arena.
We spoke in previous game previews about how the Suns may regret trading away their depth for the services of Kevin Durant. Despite his last two performances, it still looks that way.
DeAndre Ayton hasn't done enough and Phoenix will need Booker and Durant to score 80+ points on Tuesday just to keep it close.
They'll also need to find a way to stop Jokic, which they haven't done at any point. Jokic recorded a historic 30/17/17 triple-double in game three and scored 53 points in game four. Back at home, we expect Denver to pull away and win big.
