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Los Angeles Clippers guard Terance Mann knows the Phoenix Suns are going to be tough to beat since they have Kevin Durant, one of the greatest players in NBA history.
The Clippers and Suns face each other in the first round of the 2023 playoffs.
“They have Kevin Durant,” Mann said. “So it’s not just any trio. You got one of the best scorers of all time out there that you gotta worry about now. So it’s gonna be a completely different game plan from when we played them in the past. I think it’s almost a completely different team because he’s out there.”
The Suns went 8-0 with Durant in the lineup after acquiring him from the Brooklyn Nets. KD averaged 26.0 points, 6.4 rebounds and 3.5 assists with Phoenix while shooting 57.0% from the field, 53.7% from beyond the arc and 83.3% from the free-throw line.
The Clippers will likely put two-time Defensive Player of the Year Kawhi Leonard on Durant. That matchup will certainly be fun to watch.
Will the Suns’ Top-Heavy Roster Hurt Them in the Playoffs?
Mo Dakhil of Bleacher Report believes the Suns’ top-heavy roster could hurt them in the playoffs. Phoenix traded Mikal Bridges and Cameron Johnson to Brooklyn for Durant.
“The Phoenix Suns made the biggest splash at the trade deadline by acquiring Kevin Durant,” Dakhil wrote on April 11. “To no one’s surprise, it came at a cost. That cost? Two major pieces of the rotation. And it turned the Suns into a top-heavy team. Finding Phoenix’s postseason Achilles’ heel might be as simple as asking: Who will join the core when it matters most? Durant, Devin Booker, Deandre Ayton and Chris Paul are the obvious starters and crunch-time players. Who is the fifth? Monty Williams has to cobble together a rotation with the pieces who are left over: Landry Shamet, Torrey Craig, Josh Okogie, T.J. Warren, Terrence Ross and Cameron Payne. There is an open competition for that spot.
“It will come down to who can keep the court spread with their shooting and not be a defensive liability. So far, Okogie has started alongside the core four. The Suns have played only eight games with this starting lineup, though, and that might not have been enough to develop the needed chemistry. If the Suns fail to come out of the West (they are favored by FanDuel), it will be because they could not adequately fill the fifth spot in their key lineups.”
The Suns may not have to deal with Clippers All-Star swingman Paul George, who averaged 23.8 points during the regular season. The All-NBA forward is still out with a leg injury.
Analyst: The Suns Are Under Pressure
Dan Bickley of ArizonaSports.com believes the Suns are under a lot of pressure in this year’s postseason.
“There is also a great deal of pressure in Phoenix, where Chris Paul, Devin Booker and Monty Williams all carry playoff albatrosses of varying weight,” Bickley wrote on April 11. “Paul has never won a championship in his Hall of Fame career, and his postseason legacy is beset by injuries, misfortune and Scott Foster. Booker must atone for his shoddy performances in Games 6 and 7 against the Mavericks, where he was anything but legendary. And Williams has largely skated for his disastrous performance in last year’s playoffs, where he was badly outcoached by a former assistant (Willie Green); where he was cornered into unseemly checkmate from former Suns star Jason Kidd, who winked at me on his way out of Footprint Center, keenly aware of the wreckage he left behind. Williams couldn’t rein in a 64-win team gone astray; repair bridges; match wits; settle on a rotation; or save a celebrated culture gone wrong. He will surely be under the new owner’s microscope in the coming weeks.”
Game 1 between the Suns and Clippers is on April 16.
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