Suns-Nuggets Game 4 Injury Report, Preview
Who: Denver Nuggets at Phoenix Suns
What: Game 4, Western Conference Semifinals
When: Sunday, May 7 at 5:00 PM PST
Where: Footprint Center, Phoenix, AZ
Spread: Suns -4.5
Phoenix Suns Injury Report
Chris Paul (groin) OUT
Denver Nuggets Injury Report
N/A
Game Preview
The Phoenix Suns have an opportunity to do the unthinkable and tie their series with the Denver Nuggets after initially being down 2-0 heading into the weekend.
The Suns will again look to ride the wave of Devin Booker, who has been on an absolute scoring tear as of late. Game 3's 47-point performance was another trademark in Booker's short postseason career. They'll also need Kevin Durant (who pitched in 39 points of his own) to continue his scoring efforts with a bit more efficiency moving forward.
As for the Nuggets, they'll hope to rebound from a tremendous Game 3 effort from Nikola Jokic, who pieced together a 30-17-17 triple double in the loss. Denver shot just 10-30 from downtown and trailed by as much as 16 on Friday.
One storyline to watch will be the play of Deandre Ayton, who scored just four points and was benched the final minutes of the game in favor of Jock Landale. He exited the arena before media were allowed in the locker room.
"I mean, that's life. We've been around long enough to understand every night is not going to be your night. It's just doing other things to make up for it. If you make a shot, miss a layup, you don't know what's gonna happen there, but energy and effort always has to be high, especially around this time," Booker said on Ayton following the game.
"You can't get flustered. You can't get in your own head. I can see that a little bit with him today, so it's my job to just pump him up, like it's a next possession [mentality]. Who cares how you play, all that comes down to is if you win or lost around this time of year."
Cameron Payne is expected to again start in place for Chris Paul.
