Nuggets vs Suns Preview: Phoenix Returns Home for Game 3

Nuggets Looking Unstoppable

The Denver Nuggets will look to keep their dominance rolling in this series when they head to Footprint Center for Game 3 in Arizona. Let’s dive into our Nuggets vs Suns preview and see where the best value sits for bettors.

Phoenix will be sweating on the availability of Chris Paul for this one after he left Game 2 with a groin injury. Paul’s history of injury in the NBA playoffs makes for a lot of pessimism as to whether he’ll return this series and without him this hurdle might be too much for the Suns to overcome.

Meanwhile, things couldn’t be going much better for Denver. The team is healthy, Nikola Jokic is playing at an All-NBA level and their supposed ‘weakness’ on defense looks to be nothing more than an overblown media exaggeration. Their offensive versatility looks to be something that the Suns are struggling to contain and that might remain their ultimate trump card in this series.

Despite two convincing wins at home to start this series the Nuggets have opened as 5.0-point road underdogs for Game 3. The total for this one is currently sitting at 225.0 points.

Suns Can’t Mask Depth Issues

Coach Monty Williams is having a tough time finding productive minutes outside his starting lineup and the strain and pressure it’s creating on a nightly basis is becoming too much to overcome against the top team in the West.

Cam Payne, who has struggled since returning from injury, played 17 minutes and recorded a -16 plus/minus during his time on the court. That was made to look much worse by the fact that Paul lasted 25 minutes in Game 2 and finished with a +8 in that time.

In Game 1, it was Torrey Craig who saw the most minutes off the bench as he finished with 24 minutes but was a -12 for the game. Landry Shamet played the bulk of the guard minutes in that one and finished a -15 in 14 minutes of action.

Devin Booker played 40+ minutes for the sixth straight game and the impact the lack of rest is having on him and Durant is becoming evident as they struggle to keep up with a balanced Denver outfit down the stretch of games.

The Nuggets went on a 17-8 run to close out Game 2 and the Suns stars simply looked exhausted as they tried to force possessions against a Denver defense that is quickly adjusting to the midrange-heavy offense being thrown at them.

Unless coach Williams can find a way to better stagger his lineups it’s going to be a case of poor bench minutes that ultimately cripples this team and stagnates their progress.

Nuggets Offense Remains Multi-dimensional

In Game 1, it was Jamal Murray’s 34 points that led the way. In Game 2, it was Nikola Jokic’s 39 points that proved the difference.

Both games saw important scoring contributions from role players; Aaron Gordon, Michael Porter Jr, and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope continue to deliver at key moments, and the production from Bruce Brown off the bench is more than anything Phoenix can muster up with all their players.

Coach Michael Malone is doing a great job of mixing up his offensive play-calling and their half-court versatility is making life almost impossible for the Suns to contain.

Despite scoring just 97 points in Game 2, the Nuggets still recorded a 55.4% Effective Field Goal average and were projected to score 116 points based on Shot Quality metrics.

The Suns seemingly have too much to try and juggle on the fly at the moment; they are desperate for consistent scoring outside of their superstar duo, but they need to find ways to stop the Nuggets from getting open looks at the other end of the floor.

Despite the expected urgency from Phoenix at home in this one, the adjustment in this line is grossly exaggerated; especially with Paul’s status up in the air. We don’t expect the +5.0 points to remain up until tip-off so grab the early line on the Nuggets in this one.

That’s all for our Nuggets vs Suns preview ahead of their Game 3 showdown. Make sure you continue to check in on all our NBA latest scores, playoff analyses. The NBA schedule for the 2023 season is over, but stay tuned right here throughout the remainder of the playoffs for the most up-to-date analysis and predictions.

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