Suns, Nuggets to meet in playoffs, Kawhi diagnosed with torn meniscus | NBA | FIRST THINGS FIRST

live from New York is the program considering bringing back Marcus Smart's Defensive Player of the Year

first

things

first

I was a nice robe that was a lot it happened oh my gosh the playoff series they won against a roster team of Kawhi and Paul George. Sorry, I didn't mean to be Russell Westbrook, yeah, the best player 75, okay, Bruce is coming to you, that Clippers team they beat yesterday, if that was the team all year, they would have been a lottery team , we know and Ross has just come out of his best. playoff series in six years and started 3 for 19 and finished 3 for 18.

And yet, here's the question of where I am with the Sun's Wild this postseason. I felt like they were conference finalists at the very least. and that if everyone fits together they could be the most dangerous team in the league, they have already won four games in a row, yes, and I feel worse about them than at any other time. Can I tell you how much worse you have gotten in each game? Yes. I felt good about yesterday, yesterday they were up 20 against a team that didn't have their two best guys at home, had a 50-point third quarter, but if Devin Booker is breathing, shoot his eyes and all of a sudden Russell Westbrook makes a layup. to tie the game with two minutes and switch left, I said after the first two games that the sun's plan is a plan we've never seen before, have Booker and Durant score around 65 a night and then you'll be fine and So. about the minutes and we can show you now that the drum with the first round about the minutes we can show you the numbers it is unsustainable simply unsustainable these are all those left in the

playoffs

they are three of your best nine one of them in the total The league one of them is Chris Paul who is older and the only two guys averaging much more than 40 minutes are your two winning guys now, are they producing?

Yeah, but Brew, here's my concern, what they're doing. Children need until the last moment and that is. it's not sustainable, so show us the combined production of Booker and Durant, so Booker and Durant are giving you 65 a night in 57 46 91 splits. Prepare the most prolific scoring duo to ever win a championship. Kobe and Shaq in 2001 didn't even average 60 a night. the second most prolific was KD, they averaged 56 and the idea that this will continue and lead to a title that we have never seen in NBA history is not going to look very good. Some of what you say is worrying.

I'm not as depressed about kids as you are. I think they are one of those teams with a great chance to win. Depth is obviously a problem, but the campaign returned last night he only played three minutes, but he is now. He will be back, that will reduce the minutes for Chris Paul and what is happening with the children and you talked about a lot of unprecedented

things

. What's also unprecedented is that a team that played eight regular season games together is going to win the championship, okay? so they are fighting an uphill battle on many fronts now, in today's three point shooting era, a lot of things are happening that are unprecedented before Golden State won championships, no jump shooting team was going to win the championship, so it's a different day and they're old but they're getting to know each other, they've played 13 games with Kevin Durant and that's why some of these games are so close, that's why there are these laws in these long stretches where they look bad or mediocre and last night was a great For example, Nick last night and this is where and they had to resolve this because I don't like it.

The reason that game became close was because they forgot about Kevin Durant. Monty Williams forgot about him. Chris Paul forgot about him and Kevin Durant didn't. He steps forward like he does with the media and says: I'm Kevin Durant, everyone knows who I am. They were running in the fourth quarter like they were the 2016 Warriors and Kevin Durant was Harrison Barnes like he was there at the available corner. If you need me, it's crazy, it went beyond the tension of the 10-something minute. Mark when he made a jump shot it was 116.97 yes he didn't shoot he barely touched the ball yes he didn't shoot for the next 10 minutes and that's when the Clippers outscored them 33 to 16. shooting yes like you said he was standing in the corner, you don't run, they're attacking you, you don't run a play for him, you know, just Chris Paul let's not just say, let me give KD right, none of that, yeah, they forgot and now it has to be more assertive, sure, but still, that's part of this team coming together to get to know each other, so I think it was a good series for him, I think they'll be fine against them, you guys sound a little like football season football season when the Chiefs are running away and I say, well, do you know if that field goal went the other way and you say?

Dude, they keep winning and I'm like, well, what if this penalty didn't happen? You're like Wilds, they just keep winning, just accept it and I've learned to accept it, but it's 12 and one, but they have it. I've lost one, my goodness, and to be clear, I'm not saying they can't win it, I'm saying this method of playing Five Guys by playing your stars 44 minutes a night and trusting them to score 65 points a game. They can't win it that way, but I'm curious. Let's make the most liberal reading possible of the teams that could win the title this year so that everyone left in Western Golden State Sacramento can't win the title. the title just can't just give me, just let them in, just go with you here for a moment.

I'm basically saying everything that is real. I'm not clowning Atlanta, essentially everyone left on Atlanta's playoff side, okay? many of them would have gone 3-0 against the Clippers without chorus and Paul George all of them no Miami wouldn't several wouldn't oh okay I disagree I think this Clippers team was not a proper example of what What the sons are doing To face you, Russ and Norm Powell averaged 118 a night against you. Well, Russ and Norm Bowell allowed the offense to average 118 a night with you, that should be very concerning to me for the kids, among other things.

I like Norm Powell. I like it too, but. not like the number two on a playoff team he's pretty good okay here's KD and Booker not combined this is broken down separately looks like Booker's team Brew are you surprised Booker surpassed Durant in this particular series? necessarily using the word outmatched because his teammates are obviously working together, but Booker was definitely better and they both played very well, but no, it doesn't surprise me because, number one, the defense is more focused on stopping Kevin Durant, Yeah. Okay, so it's easier for Devin Booker that Devin Booker is enjoying what Kevin Durant enjoyed in Golden State, right, where you know the defense was focused on Steph, so Durant, if you can shoot, then you're going to get open looks, you're going to get single coverage and a great player like Durant or Devin Booker will be able to exploit that, so that's the number one Booker, you know a great shooter and he's getting less defensive attention than ever and then two Devin Bookers just more assertive than Kevin Durant.

Kevin Durant will sit there for 10 minutes and if you don't give him the ball he just runs up and down the court. I guess part of it is this is Devin, you know he's been on the Suns for a long time he's used to his teammates, but still Kevin Durant did it with Russell Weston, he took the throne, no I don't know took it away from Kyrie, it's those kind of people, you know, Skip Bayless used to refer to him as a superstar. Superstar role player, second guy who has shown us for 15 years that he is not going to say look, give me the rock, they will come back, give me the ball.

I'm Kevin Durant. I've seen it done, those are the two finals against LeBron. where he did it, his team, yes, he did it, where his team was completely healthy and basically said, "I'll take care of this" when Wade gave it to him. No. Steph was an accommodating system. I understand the point I'm making is Durant. he's much better than Kyrie Durant he was much better than Russ Durant and Steph considers him a wash and Grant is better than Booker a lot of respect for Booker we'll see if he makes the club Superstar next week he's better than him, he's always let those other guys, If they want to cook, they cook and it's just their nature.

The only times I saw that not happen were the 2017-2018 Finals, against LeBron, where I thought it was just a smart team passing him if they had. a little bit more we're not looking for him or we're not going to him yeah I don't know if he would have taken it Russ came back to Earth last night 14 points that's also the report that comes out Kawhi tore his

meniscus

yeah So that's why he missed the last two games. He didn't retire either. He is still retiring. He is not forced to retire. He doesn't retire. So here's the deal.

I feel bad for Kauai. And I think Wild got it exactly. Wilde said last week or two. Weeks ago, when the news came that we should view Kauai not as a healthy player getting injured, yes, but as an injured player fighting to recover, but if after taking last year, I shouldn't say retire him, but after. he didn't play last year and then took over managing all year to prepare for the

playoffs

. It reportedly lasted. What he heard his knee in the first game, less than a playoff game without it on his knee, you can't trust him, you have the 30th pick this year, you don't have a pick next year, you don't have a pick at 26 , you trade picks at 25, you have no salary cap flexibility and the new collective bargaining agreement is the most difficult for two teams, the Clippers. and the Warriors because they have been the big spenders, which is why the most they can offer Russ is $3.8 million, since Paul George and Kawhi Leonard have played together in approximately the same number of career playoff games as Trey Young and John Collins.

If they are 13 and 11 together in the playoffs, we have already been there for four years. I don't see a path forward for the Clippers. No, this is the championship window. It's over, they missed it, they ruined it in the bubble. Not now. I don't know if they would have beaten the Lakers, I'm just saying they're up 3-1, they're up three in the second round against Denver, that was the only chance they had when Kawhi and Paul George were on the same level as Brooklyn. I mean, they actually had a chance. Brooklyn never had that season where Kawaii, yeah, we're together, yeah, they got hurt, they had a chance with PG and, uh, Kawhi, and they blew it in the bubble, in the future, look, I would. talk to teams about Kauai and PG, but no, who will accept their contracts.

Kawhi has 45 million guaranteed next year, 49 million guaranteed next year if he wants it as a player option, same with Paul George, so I think they're going to have to run with it. If I'm Russ, I'll go back to the number one Clippers. I don't see a team out there that is going to give him a lot of money. I mean, only two teams I can think of that would even think about bringing him. Miami and I mean, if Washington wants to just do stupid things like that, I'm happy, so look, he's made 300, almost 350 million dollars in his career, he's at home in Los Angeles, the Clippers want him and need him to a certain extent. spot. he should stay with them even if it's for $3.8 million because I don't think anyone is giving him much money, so if he went somewhere else it would be just a little more.

Can I tell you? I don't think that's going to happen because I don't think it's about the money, it's about what the money represents and I think Russ feels pretty unfair because he's been disrespected by the media over the last two years and while he doesn't No I think his pride I think someone will give him 12 million 13 million I think the Miami thing is interesting I think because that would be interesting because they probably could but I think Wilds would do it again I don't know Russ, I'm not pretending I know Russ, this is just Reading, if I've watched it for 15 years I think I'd feel like it would be admitting defeat like those people who said I'm not a great player anymore.

Somehow I tried this series. It could be, but now I play for less than four million dollars to go to the league. Charlotte wins 12 million dollars. Doesn't make the playoffs. Don't be happy. Can I ask you a question? Do any of us think that? The Clippers are championship contenders, no, no, not you, so they could make the playoffs just fine, but I think there are a lot of teams that, with Russ as the guy who could, could find a way to make the playoffs. It's one thing to take the money if we're going to win a title but you're not with the Clippers, okay, let's move on.

Denver won, remember this, oh yeah, remember the Joker brothers weren't happy with what they got. swept and got ejected, yeah, Denver favored by three in the first game, yeah, Nick, who do you have? You're a big Joker fan so coming into these playoffs I had Lakers sons in the Conference Finals and I think I had the Suns over the

nuggets

in six if I remember correctly uh I don't feel like that anymore I think this I think the

nuggets

are going to win wow I think the interesting minutes plus what I think was a very poor defense by the Sun that the Clippers couldn't take full advantage of plus Denver's altitudemore what is a five man rotation six man rotation all that I don't know who in Phoenix can guard Jamal Murray I know it was a joke this year against Phoenix he averaged 31-17 and 12.

I like the nut. I'm surprised because I haven't exactly been the biggest Nikola kitchen nuggets guy myself, but I feel different than I did 10 days ago. I think it's a good series. Denver is difficult. team, especially if Jamal Murray can be a bubble. Jamal mutters that he was one for two games against Minnesota, but no, I'll pick the Suns in six. I don't want to go back there for a 7th game if I'm Phoenix at altitude like you said in Denver, but I don't think this Nuggets defense is good enough to stop that juggernaut offense. The two are clearly the best offensive duo in the league, Durant and Booker, they struggled at times with Minnesota and are often a dumb team, as I have said they are not a smart team.

Phoenix is ​​a smart team. You know, they're great. More talent, much more talent than Minnesota. Now I think if they face the Lakers or the Warriors. In the playoffs, the Suns are going to have to be a little more sophisticated on offense, you can't just go one-on-one, D, book one-on-one, KD, I think they'll be able to survive against Denver's sons and six, right, Oh. That's right, okay, thanks for watching. Subscribe here to learn more about the show and see clips from other shows on FS1.