In other words, these Suns haven't just been winning, they've been dominating. Even more impressive is that it won those seven games by an average of 16.3 points. That's seven straight postseason wins for Phoenix, which is impressive. The Suns won three straight games in the first round to take down the Lakers, and then they just won four straight games to sweep the Nuggets. The Suns have been great all season, but right now they seem to be playing their best basketball at the right time. The whole season was great until the last four games." Sometimes someone can beat you, accept it and try to be better. But, I think the whole team needs to walk out with our head up. "That didn't go how we wanted," Jokic said after Game 4. If it wasn't for Jokic's strong play, especially after Jamal Murray went down with a torn ACL in April, the Nuggets likely would not have made it as far as they did. Obviously, it was far from an ideal ending to what was an otherwise extremely memorable campaign for Jokic, but that shouldn't take away from how solid he was all season. h/t /rQVOHhvCI4- ESPN Stats & Info June 14, 2021 Jokic is also the 2nd MVP to be ejected in the last 25 postseasons (Steph Curry in 2016). Nikola Jokic is the 5th MVP to be swept in a playoff series, and 1st since Magic Johnson in the 1989 Finals vs the Pistons.
Not only were his Nuggets swept in the series by the Suns, but Jokic wasn't even out on the floor with his teammates for the final 15 minutes of Game 4 to try to extend the series as he was ejected for committing this hard foul on Suns guard Cam Payne: Still, Jokic's stellar season came to an extremely disappointing, and frustrating, end on Sunday night. He was awarded with the NBA's MVP award as a result of his efforts, and as such it's a season that will always be remembered in the history books. He averaged career highs across the board - 26.4 points, 10.8 rebounds, and 8.3 assists in 34.6 minutes per performance - while playing in all 72 regular-season games and leading the Nuggets to the third seed in the ultra-competitive Western Conference. Nikola Jokic had an epic season for the Denver Nuggets. A frustrating end to a stellar season for Jokic Over a decade and a half into his career, Paul still appears to be near the peak of his powers, and he's an enormous part of the reason why the Suns are now just foiur wins away from their first NBA Finals appearance in nearly three decades. Everyone loves to talk about LeBron James' longevity, and rightfully so, but Paul should be mentioned in the same breath. PMF76HI6iW- Anthony Slater June 14, 2021Īt 36 years old, Paul's longevity is extremely impressive. In the process, he became the oldest player with 35-plus points on 70 percent shooting in a playoff game since 1965.Įight consecutive Chris Paul mid-range jumpers in less than 10 game minutes, all from the same side of the floor. The point production was the most that he's scored in any game since 2018. In all, Paul tallied 37 points (on 14 of 19 shooting from the floor), seven assists, three rebounds and two steals. With the game, and the series, still hanging in the balance, Paul turned back the clock and submitted one of his best-ever postseason performances. An epic Chris Paul performanceĬhris Paul was absolutely electric on Sunday night.
Here's a look at three major takeaways from Phoenix's Game 4 win over Denver.
Now, the Nuggets will enter the offseason, while the Suns will compete to make their first Finals appearance since 1993. If Jamal Murray was healthy for the series, perhaps it would have gone differently, but without him Denver just didn't have the firepower to keep up with Phoenix. After making it to the Western Conference finals last season, the Nuggets took a step back this year. The Nuggets never gave up, but without their leader, they were unable to prevent the Suns from ending their season. Jokic's night ended early though, as he was ejected late in the third quarter following a flagrant 2 foul on Suns guard Cam Payne. Will Barton paced the Nuggets with 25 points, and freshly minted MVP Nikola Jokic added 22 points and 11 rebounds for Denver. There was an error processing your subscription.