BBNBA: Heat take commanding lead; Suns struggle without Devin Booker
Is Devin Booker really the difference between a title contender and a first-round exit? It appears that may be the case as Phoenix continues to struggle without the star guard. Let’s take a look at how the Suns and some other former Kentucky Wildcats fared in the playoffs on Sunday.
Sunday’s Results
(8) Pelicans 118 – (1) Suns 103 (Series tied 2-2)
(1) Heat 110 – (8) Hawks 86 (MIA leads 3-1)
(6) Nuggets 126 – (3) Warriors 121 (GSW leads 3-1)
(3) Bucks 119 – (6) Bulls 95 (MIL leads 3-1)
Suns dimming at the worst time
What a turnaround it’s been the past week or so. I’m sure that there’s a large amount of us that already locked the Suns in to reach the NBA Finals again — it’s understandable given how dominant Phoenix has been this season.
Losing Devin Booker was a massive blow that exposed the lack of perimeter scoring depth that the Suns actually have. But even without the star guard, they should still be favorites to walk away from this series victorious. We haven’t seen pressure put on Phoenix like this in some time though, so it’ll be interesting to see how Chris Paul and the rest of the team can handle it.
If it’s just going to result in Chris Paul doing Chris Paul antics, yeah this series may be closer than we think.
For a team that went 64-18 this season, they should be able to grind out a series win against the eighth seed, no matter their injury status. The Pelicans have been without their best player for a year now.
Phoenix still holds homecourt advantage after the 15-point loss — time to make it count.
Heat keeping Trae on ice
Jimmy Butler had one of his great nights on Sunday as Miami cruised to a 24-point win over the Hawks to take a commanding 3-1 lead in the series. Butler finished with 36 points and 10 rebounds while shooting 11-12 from the free-throw line. He may give you an aneurism for 80% of the time you watch him play. But when he’s on, just let the man cook.
Our Kentucky boys had some mixed results in Sunday’s win. Bam Adebayo wasn’t bad by any means, grabbing eight boards to go along with his 14 points. He shot an efficient 6-11 from the field as well.
Tyler Herro on the other hand continued his playoff struggles. The star guard came off the bench and shot 1-8 from the field on Sunday, going 0-5 from deep.
Statistics
| Player | Result | Points | FG (3PA) | Rebounds | Assists | Steals | Blocks | Turnovers | Minutes | +/- |
| Bam Adebayo (MIA) | 110-86 W @ ATL | 14 | 6-11 | 8 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 30 | 8 |
| Kevin Knox (ATL) | 110-86 L vs. MIA | 12 | 4-6 (4-6) | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| DeMarcus Cousins (DEN) | 126-121 W vs. GSW | 10 | 3-3 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 10 | 7 |
| Tyler Herro (MIA) | 110-86 W @ ATL | 3 | 1-8 (0-5) | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 21 | 28 |
| Devin Booker (PHX) | 118-103 L @ NOP | DNP – Hamstring | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
Tonight in the NBA
7:00 p.m. (TNT) (2) Celtics @ (7) Nets (BOS leads 3-0)
8:00 p.m. (NBA TV) (5) Raptors @ (4) 76ers (Maxey) (PHI leads 3-1)
9:30 p.m. (TNT) (5) Jazz @ (4) Mavericks (Series tied 2-2)
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