The Suns brought us back down to Earth tonight (1 Viewer)

[GrandAdmiral]

All they could talk about after the game was how Booker went out in the 3rd... While he did have a great 1st half... The Pels were still right there at half.... When I went back and looked - Booker played the 3rd all the way to the ~4min mark, and hadn't scored a point since halftime... The TNT guys were at a loss, and couldn't wrap their heads around the Suns losing, and were grasping for excuses for them.

This young group adjusted and shut Booker down.... and then he got hurt chasing Jaxson on a dunk he had no chance to stop.

Either way impressive road playoff win by a young team.

If they continue to win and give effort like this, and Zion (who is faking injury IMO) doesn't come back if pull a miracle series win over the Suns... I say Efff Zion... time to trade his big 12 burrito eatin' arse and move on.

I agree with all of this except one. Zion, to be fair, says he's ready to play. The team, admittedly is holding him back. They don't think he's healed enough.

 

[Bill]

Reverse psychology?

Full blown George Costanza mode.

 

[Bill]

I agree with all of this except one. Zion, to be fair, says he's ready to play. The team, admittedly is holding him back. They don't think he's healed enough.

So… if the Pels go all the way, does Zion still get his championship ring?

 

[Infoman]

I agree with all of this except one. Zion, to be fair, says he's ready to play. The team, admittedly is holding him back. They don't think he's healed enough.

I'm not buying it... I am watching him do insane warmup dunks pre-game, and he's running 5 on 5 in practice... He can't get ~10 mins off the bench right now at a minimum...??? This is the playoffs against the team with the best record in the NBA... They should have to tie him to the bench not to at least get some minutes in this situation. BI was out there playing on one leg at times... I have real doubts that Zion cares.

 

[boutrous]

I agree with all of this except one. Zion, to be fair, says he's ready to play. The team, admittedly is holding him back. They don't think he's healed enough.

I'm not buying it... I am watching him do insane warmup dunks pre-game, and he's running 5 on 5 in practice... He can't get ~10 mins off the bench right now at a minimum...??? This is the playoffs against the team with the best record in the NBA... They should have to tie him to the bench not to at least get some minutes in this situation. BI was out there playing on one leg at times... I have real doubts that Zion cares.

To be fair, Zion and his camp have been pushing for the team to play him for a while now. The team has pretty much decided they know what they have in Zion, either a great player or a great asset, and there is nothing more they can learn or gain this year. It's was not worth the risk to mess up either next season or a trade (no one is talking trade as far as I know, that's just my speculation) by playing him and he gets hurt again and is out AGAIN next season.

HOWEVER.... that was when getting into, or maybe winning in the playoffs was a long shot pipe-dream and honestly would just garner us a worse draft pick. Now... we are in position for the Lakers' pick, so our pick isn't as big of a factor AND we stole an away game from the Suns AND their best scorer is now out for Game 3 or more. All the risk vs reward calculations have been busted. IMO, playing Zion in Game 3 off the bench for 15 or so minutes will be essentially kicking the Suns when they are down and could propel us into the next round. Is the possibility of getting us into the next round or the WCF worth the risk? I think so. Losing in the first round was not...

 

[GrandAdmiral]

I'm not buying it... I am watching him do insane warmup dunks pre-game, and he's running 5 on 5 in practice... He can't get ~10 mins off the bench right now at a minimum...??? This is the playoffs against the team with the best record in the NBA... They should have to tie him to the bench not to at least get some minutes in this situation. BI was out there playing on one leg at times... I have real doubts that Zion cares.

I get what you're saying and I agree, but that's the story going around.

 

[Dago]

Obviously the Pels front office wants to win now but you all have to remember that Zion is eligible for an extension this offseason. That extension needs to be done for him to either play for us or to be traded for good assets and all of that goes into limbo if he comes back this year and gets hurt whether its aggravating the old injury or getting a new one due to not being in great condition.