It seems like the start of the NBA playoffs occurred eons ago. Perhaps that’s because the OKC Thunder weren’t involved even in the play-in tournament. In fairness, the first and second rounds each had series that ran the full seven games while the conference finals lasted six games on both coasts.
Last evening the NBA Finals finally got underway with the Phoenix Suns hosting the Milwaukee Bucks. I’m sure many in Thunder Nation joined me in catching the opening game of the series and noticed a familiar sight – – Chris Paul dictating play. It seriously felt like deja vu as CP3 forced his will on the game.
Former OKC Thunder captain Paul puts his imprint on Game 1 of NBA Finals
Some in the media are downplaying this championship stating the Suns and Bucks got lucky because of all the injuries experienced by the opposing teams they faced. I’m not sure that’s a fair assessment given you’d be hard-pressed to find any season where a team didn’t benefit face an opponent missing a vital player or get lucky breaks.
While Lakers fans are quick to cite the injury to Anthony Davis as the reason they aren’t vying for a repeat they seem to be suffering from recency bias. Let’s not forget LA had a similar fortune just last season in the bubble. Damian Lillard missed a game and wasn’t 100 percent while Bam Adebayo and Goran Dragic each missed games in the finals and weren’t close to full health when they were in the lineup.
To be fair, the Bucks and Suns also had to navigate injuries this postseason. Milwaukee beat the Hawks without Giannis Antetokounmpo playing in the last two games and hasn’t had Donte DiVincenzo the entire postseason. Phoenix had to deal with Paul’s shoulder impingement, his absence for two games due to COVID, and him playing through legitimate issues in his wrist plus Devin Booker suffered a badly broken nose.
These two clubs have simply rolled with the punches and yes, had some luck but are very worthy of being the final two teams standing. If anything it’s a great lesson for teams like the OKC Thunder to recognize how important a factor depth is as they look to build toward the future.
Returning to the game, it was very reminiscent of many games Thunder Nation experienced with the Point God at the helm last season. That it was implied CP3 wasn’t being aggressive early suggested ignoring Paul’s typical game plan. The veteran guard frequently spends the first frame or half getting his teammates rolling electing to take over in moments where momentum needs to be shifted or in clutch time.
Game 1 was a carbon copy of that theme with Paul taking over in the second half and specifically scoring or creating plays that keep the Suns ahead by double-digits. He finished the match with 32 points, nine assists, four rebounds, a steal, and connected on four of his seven 3-point attempts.
More from Thunderous Intentions
- Stealing one player from every Southwest Division team for the OKC Thunder
- Should the OKC Thunder chase after a disgruntled hometown hero?
- 3 OKC Thunder players who can step up in Aleksej Pokusevski’s absence
- Aleksej Pokusevski sidelined approximately 6 weeks with ankle injury
- Damian Lillard does not fit with the OKC Thunder
As a team, the Suns demonstrated why they should be favored to win with six different players scoring in double-figures and missing only one of their 26 free throws. They kept the rebound differential close (43 to 47), surprisingly outscored Milwaukee in the paint (44 to 42), and kept their turnovers low (nine).
With Game 6 on tap for Thursday, the Bucks will undoubtedly respond but they have reasons to worry. Phoenix didn’t shoot from the perimeter as well as they can, didn’t hit their typical assist level, and most importantly learned outsmarting the Suns will be a challenge. To wit, CP3 is a master at tracking down the defender who is a mismatch.
Paul (and Devin Booker) abused Brook Lopez, Bobby Portis and Bryn Forbes on mismatches. Even if Mike Budenholzer assigns Jrue Holiday to limit Paul’s scoring it won’t completely solve the problem.
As we’ve seen throughout the season and playoffs, Phoenix is an equal opportunity scoring squad. Five players are averging double-figure scoring in the playoffs with another two close behind (8.2 and 9.9 points). Given Paul, Booker and Payne’s playmaking ability it sure bodes well for the Suns to make that 4-2 series prediction of Intentions seem solid.
If Chris Paul continues to play like he did in Game 1 through the rest of the series he could very well be adding Finals MVP to his list of accomplishments.