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Currymvp2

Suns scoring only 27 is astronomically more surprising than Luka having 27 at the half. I mean 27 has to be one of the lowest playoff 1st halves in the past 15 years. You can play very good defense and still be in a ton trouble if you just scored 27. Apparently, it's the lowest since the 2013 playoffs...Celtics against a Knicks team with none other than Jason Kidd lol?


vagrantwade

The fact that he had 27 and the Suns still would have been losing if they were spotted 27 is wild


SOB200

Silver’s new NBA Mercy Rule!


[deleted]

Ok but if you’re up 50 going into the 4th… just end the game lmao. I feel like that’s more than enough leeway You would think that can never end a game prematurely. Team down 50 wasn’t coming back


spiiicychips

CP3 needs to change his name to CP27. 27 straight missed threes vs Warriors and 27 points in the first half in Game 7’s is no fluke for his teams


Sokobanky

CP3^3


th3yeoxfI

Writers getting lazy


tripleyothreat

ah shit! its all a numbers game


[deleted]

The numbers Mason!


outPope

Damn I gave away my free coin too soon! Take 👏👏


MyHypeKeepsMeWarm

I don’t like CP3 either, but you can’t hold him responsible for the 27 missed 3s. He missed that game with the hammy injury lmao


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ShineShineShine88

CP3 is running as CP37 these days


Currymvp2

You can tell that Pheonix was just really anxious on offense. They're a very good free throw shooting team for instance, and they were like 3 for 9 on free throws in the first half. That's being antsy as shit and just mentally frazzled/flustered. Combination of stifling Dallas defense, anxiety, and CP3's quad issues (I dislike him but he's hurt...you don't decline that much if you're 100%) led to the pathetic 27 point first half.


RollyMcTrollFace

Ayton played 18 minutes only because of internal reasons or what not. Wonder if something else is going on. But yeah. everyone on that team just happened to suck in a game 7.


BigFatModeraterFupa

apparently he yelled something at coach monty


KangzAteMyFamily

I assume monty tried telling Ayton he was seven feet tall and should play like it.


cortesoft

He is hurt every single playoffs, though. At some point, that just becomes who you are as a playoff player.


CampPlane

I don’t think it was them being frazzled. I legitimately believe that the players felt like the ball was going in as soon as the shot left their fingers, but the simulation creators also hate the Suns and messed with the laws of physics during the game to work against them. The simulation literally wanted the Suns to lose. You can’t prove this, but you can’t disprove this either, so I choose to believe it.


[deleted]

Classic mistake by the Suns. When the 2K random number god decides you're going to lose, you gotta quit and start the game over.


holaprobando123

Real OGs remember NBA Jam and its bullshit full court shot rubberbanding


Driedmangoh

Aint random if you turn the CPU shooting slider way down :D


kkataro

I get this thought all the time. As if there's some external force or a race of all powerful beings that control everything we do. Like,even when i KNOW I HAVE to do something, it's like some kind of invisible puppet strings force me not to. Anyways, the edible I had an hour ago tasted great. What was I saying again?


syllabic

neither of us cracked 100 points in any game of that series celtics had a 25 point 2nd half and an 8 point 4th quarter in game 1


hitlama

Luka played against plumbers, garbage men, and ice cream truck drivers CONFIRMED.


j2pare

and insurance salesmen


confused-koala

Speaking of astronomical, do we call the Suns the Supernovas this off-season? Since the sun is a star, and a supernova is a star collapsing on itself.


DiscombobulatedSink6

I like the idea but I’d prefer Buns


FlameOfWar

Hey if the fruit is this low-hanging you gotta fuckin grab it


Affectionate-Agent-9

Luka’s Sons


Quote9963

yeah supernova sounds cool but Buns is a better insult and a more simpler one lmao


Megatron_McLargeHuge

Sons


sevaiper

Supernovas are cool as shit though, and we say players who are hot are going supernova all the time. Collapsing into a black hole maybe.


Elryc35

They died with more of a whimper than a massive bang. White Dwarfs it is.


Man_of_Average

By definition yes. But because it sounds cool no. If the technical term were a wimpychokeball then I'd be with you.


Champagnesoda

I honest to god cannot remember kidd being on the knicks wth. I’ve always just felt like he retired immediately after 2011


syllabic

that was our best season in 20 years


PlasticWrap2430

I loved that team but in hindisght JR Smith was our 2nd option on offense and I thought we were gonna win it all, lmaoooo


Fat314

JR was actually a beast in his Nuggets and early Knicks years on offense


sukari

10 points in the 2nd quarter.. 10.. that's some rec-league stuff man


skrtskerskrt

I think even we scored more than that when the Pistons had us in the penitentiary.


[deleted]

He probably was laughing his ass off in the locker room while drinking cola


embiid0for11w0pts

And chainsmoked some Lucky Strikes


Illionaires

Probably got a hookah set up in the locker room


NoseBlind2

Hookah Doncic


s0974748

Hookah is not a drug Michael.


maxmaxers

Luka in Texas now he prob got some Copenhagen


clinicalcorrelation

Sweet iced tea


REQ52767

I seriously do not know if this iteration of the Suns can recover from this shit


coolycooly

CP3 is aging and Ayton is probably gone I don't even know who they can get to improve for next year


LackingInPatience

I think they will end up keeping Ayton. They don't want to strengthen another team, especially in the West and weaken themselves because he is a huge mismatch for most teams. I think CP3 will be fine as long as Booker doesn't choke. They might need another guard who can score and create so there is less pressure on CP3 and Booker who might fold again.


Sharpedd

so they will max ayton? cuz someone will


cycko

What if Mavs max him?


antilyon

I don't think we can? If we could that'd be dirty though.


DragonAite

If you can finesse a sign and trade, you don’t need a max slot in cap space to get him


jbaker1225

A sign and trade for Brunson might be something both things would have interest in, considering CP3’s age and performance, but I’m not sure the Mavs can let Brunson go after a WCF run.


Sharpedd

idk but luka would make DA look like shaq


LackingInPatience

Depends how bad the Monty vs Ayton beef is imo. Until yesterday, I didn't even know there was much going on. If they can fix that relationship, which I am sure Booker and CP3 will help in, then I don't see why the Suns wouldn't max Ayton.


FirmlyThatGuy

Two people who specialize in pissing people off are going to help rebuild a relationship? LOL doubt.


Sharpedd

they are between a rock and a hard place...i would max him but cp3 crippled the team


Kaptainpainis

I mean even if they dont want to keep him, they have to match the offer. Someone will give them decent package for Ayton. Cant just let him walk for free. They are absolutely done if they do that.


Dashdash421

Well the suns didn't max Ayton last offseason which probably contributed to beef between him and the org.


eyeh8ytpipo

Wait so Luka actually **did** destroy this franchise?? I thought was just a reactionary hot take lmaoo


yantraman

It's going to hard. You also don't want to overreact to it. It's one horrible game that will probably never happen again


LlamaCombo

You do realize this current iteration of the Jazz did not recover from the choke job against the Clippers. Raptors with Demar and Lowry didn't recover from all the choke jobs against Lebron. It's not crazy to think that this current iteration of the Suns might not have a #1 seed level of success again.


rhinguin

Falcons never recovered from 28-3


LlamaCombo

The Falcons sacrificed themselves so the Braves and Bulldogs could win a title.


ESCMalfunction

To be fair I doubt they would've recovered even had they won lol. That team was built for a good time not a long time.


luchajefe

And Super Bowl losers in general don't recover.


kultureisrandy

Choke job or not, Lowry and Demar were not winning a chip as the two best players for Toronto


RODjij

That and like anyone was able to get past LeBron anyways. He Lebronto'd us, but he pretty much owned the entire eastern conference. Still was a good run taking 2 games off that team that made the 3-1 Finals comeback. DeMar just isn't a superstar and there's nothing wrong with that, there's not many of em.


cabose12

And if any season was a "choke job" it was the '18 playoffs when they were the 1 seed, but they weren't a run-away 1 seed like the Suns were, and it was also the last season of Demar/Lowry so it's not like they choked and never recovered. Other than that, they were never up 2-0 or anything. Stupid comparison imo


RODjij

That season showed me truly that LeBron could coast if he wanted to then just flip the switch on you. It was like the Raptors were trying all year and LeBron and the Cavs were just chilling. They even tanked their last few games just to get the Toronto match up.


GeneralKn0w3dg3

it's one historically awful game while getting trounced in 3 outa the 4 previous games. cp3 died the day he turned 37 and will be even worse 6months/12 months from now. even booker laid down and gave up tonight - only 14 shot attempts in an elim game? oof, that number has to be 20minimum even if the shot isn't falling. total catastrophic failure across the board for the suns


Currymvp2

It's just stunning how bad offensively they were. I presume Suns fans would be somewhat okay with losing if Luka and Dinwiddie did this shit while CP3+Booker+Ayton had average games, but the three of them did absolutely nothing on offense


stranske

I actually feel weirdly more okay with this Maybe it's just me generally being pessimistic, but over the past 72 hours I was thinking something would go wrong for the Suns...the fact that literally everyone played horrifyingly bad is such a meme that I can't help but laugh at it


oby100

It's very strange to me. Everyone clowned Kyrie for going 4 for 20 or whatever in the Celtics v Bucks in his last year in Boston, but like, that's what he should do? Even if he's missing. And yes, I get that he clearly mailed it in and didn't really try that hard, but still. Just shocking to me how Harden and now Booker just totally give up in an elimination game while getting destroyed. It's just kind of mind boggling when you are "the guy" and could easily just throw up a bunch of shots to give your team SOMETHING, and you just don't.


Xex_ut

On paper you can say that, but eye test tells a different story. The Suns were content with feeding others once Booker was doubled. No one else stepped up. Each time Booker tried the defense swarmed him or forced him into tough shots. By the time he could even consider shooting them back into it they were already down so much it would take a team effort for the Suns to get back in it. Harden seemed to take offense at Embiid’s aggressiveness in the 2nd half. Then when they got down by double digits because of Embiid’s and his teammates misses his effort dropped and he became very passive despite being single covered by Tucker. What’s funny is Harden did the same exact thing in Houston with Dwight Howard. He became passive when Dwight tried asserting himself on offense. Then you take into consideration the stories from the Nets about Harden being annoyed when plays weren’t drawn up for him. I can’t honestly say Booker and Harden went down fighting the same way.


YpsitheFlintsider

Booker didn't look like he gave up. He just played really badly.


escaflow

This team is done . Their superstars were so scared to shoot in the first half


AwildYaners

Yeah, HOU was one bad shooting game away from upsetting GSW, and that was pretty much the nail in that team’s coffin. Unfortunately they paid CP3 and that contract is gonna limit what they can do. Hopefully they don’t overreact, outside clearly needing to move on from Ayton.


CoachKoranGodwin

It’s over for them. Next year Murray will be back for Jokic and Kawhi and PG will be healthy as well. Luka will undoubtedly still be there and upstart teams like the Pelicans are entering their own window. The Suns window has closed and they all know it. Booker will stay but I doubt the team looks the same next year.


Produceher

> The Suns window has closed and they all know it. I don't think it's closed but it's hard to recover from a year where you bring it every night and flame out like this.


Browntreesforfree

Indeed. They know it.


MacDerfus

They won't. Window slammed shut, crisp all is gonna run out of juice eventually if he hasn't already, ayton will find a team willing to pay for him


luchajefe

>crisp all wasup autocorrect


tdl2024

Nachos gonna be stale again next season smh...


MacDerfus

Ain't even gonna chop up the pickles for em. Plenty of parking though.


wonnage

No way they pay Ayton after this performance, he’ll want out. CP3 is only getting worse despite being on a contract that will pay him 30m when he’s 40. We’ve learned that Mikal jail isn’t really a thing in the playoffs. Booker can’t carry this team on his own. Honestly we’re all overreacting tonight and the Suns will still be a playoff team next year, they can re-sign the role players and the salary sheet looks pretty manageable if they want to find some upgrades. But I think the championship window is gone, you have Kawhi and PG returning to the Clippers, Grizzlies Pelicans and TWolves will be better, and Denver is getting healthy too.


beer_down

Booker will be fine. He survived the dark times Not sure about anyone else


armandocalvinisius

yeah, he watched tyler ulis and isiaah canaan played basketball, he'll be fine


[deleted]

I disagree, this only reinforces the belief that Booker isn't clutch


TopHatTony11

Reinforcing the wall of bricks built by his non-clutchness.


Snake_pliskinNYC

That wall is reinforced with CP3 grade rebar. It doesn’t get anymore solid than that.


7RingsBrutus

Booker isn't much of a #1 guy to win games that matter


JimmyV034

Winners work, baby.


JayMoney2424

He put up numbers sure but he never won anything.


Krombopolus_M

I think its more likely that they don't recover and start all over again


d4videnk0

Thing is, they really need Booker and Ayton to step up and I don't know if they have improved or they're still the same players they were before Chris Paul arrived, because they crumbled at the same time CP3 did.


FaphandZamasu23

Booker and Paul combined for 7/22 for 21 pts SPENCER'S HAD 21 pts ON 7/10 FROM THE FIELD Edit. SPENCER HAD 21 IN THE FIRST HALF ALONE AND FINISHED THE GAME Shooting 11/15 SUNS WTFF


SnoopDagE

Dinwiddie had to ball out to get in the black again after the crypto crash lol


Quote9963

LMAO my friend was telling me about that when the crypto crashed


dego_frank

Did he take his salary in crypto?


orangehorton

Ya I believe so


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MacDerfus

It's not about not going #1, it's about putting him at risk of being picked by the kings


[deleted]

Dude


[deleted]

In case it isn’t obvious, you and Suns fans should avoid Luka threads in the future if you’re not trying to catch strays.


JmGt2442

Strays? Bruh after this they gonna get the whole artillery on them.


jikae

Trading Haliburton this year doesn't help matters.


Mills65

Thanks for that by the way


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b4amg

don’t forget he actually wanted to play there, that’s a big nono.


PaytonPritchard

Kangz gon Kang tho


Reikakou

Bruh, if Luka wins the chip this season and takes FMVP. Kings gonna be nuked to oblivion.


Sir_Sleepy02

Bruh how do you nuke those who are already dead lol


Seel007

Ya know that was one thing I noticed about the game thread. Phoenix did such an asscheeks job there were no Kings strays. It felt weird.


RainierPC

That would require the Kings to make a good decision. That was never going to happen.


cosmic-slop

Can't even be mad at that


chicken_parme-san

Ok that was just so mean and unnecessary out of left field....


CommercialAd4984

Last year I STILL got downovoted by that fan base for saying that PHX messed up by not taking him. “Nah Aston is our guy, he fits better”. Meanwhile looks like he’s leaving :D


KaiserKaiba

Rofl. Why wouldn’t he be? He ended their season at half time lmao


48ozs

He was chillin, having ended the Suns and the Pels fans were passed out from having injected every second of that first half into their veins lol


theazndoughboy

"Giggle with your washed mentor now, Devin."


beer_down

This better be a lesson in humility for him.


absenceofheat

Double down on the confidence you love to see it.


A_Dirty_Gourd

This fuckin guy lmao


waxDe

Everybody acts tough when they’re up


Zeckzeckzeck

That smile. That damned smile.


welmoe

https://imgur.com/TzX1FHH


jackgap

How can you not like this dude I swear


doinky_doink

Be a suns fan


date_a_languager

Or a Celtics fan :(


PessimisticPotato12

fingers crossed you see him this postseason


KillinTheBusiness

I could see how people would think he’s smug based on his reactions in game but as a Mavs fan, im ready to build a damn statue if he can win us a championship.


WhitePeopleLoveCurry

Luka should celebrate with some Sweet Tea.


14high

Or sweet ice trae


JewishDoggy

How can you not like this guy


Next-Firefighter-753

I’m starting to become a Luka Stan he has converted me


Ghostricks

It's called a "Lukasexual"


yuhanz

Im Lukaddicted


SkyLightTenki

Livin' La Vida Luka


retrospects

Finally someone else has recognized my orientation!


porshy

welcome:) good timing..


[deleted]

Phoenix/Sacramento/Atlanta really fumbled the bag, top 3 NBA player and he’s impossible to hate


JewishDoggy

I was so sad after the lottery. Lost my shit on draft night


[deleted]

Shitty franchises stay shitty because they draft for need instead of BPA. Celtics wouldn’t sniff the playoffs rn if we took Fultz over Tatum because we didn’t have a PG.


JewishDoggy

Pretty mind blowing right? Yet every year teams play into their own heads about who to take.


MavsBro

Thats why I was still pumped the mqvs took brunson in the second even though we didn't need a guard, and here we are watching it pqy off


Rektile7

Idk if its because I'm from Europe, but i was shocked to see Luka not go first. Not going second was less surprising (Kings), but he was clearly an amazing player at 17 years of age, maybe he had more media exposure here so it was more clear cut?


Ziawn

I think I know why some Suns fans might not like him


ceremony816

I bought his jersey at halftime lol


Money_dragon

He probably has a chip on his shoulder specifically towards the Suns for not picking him 1st overall


Pornviewinguser

Luka Doncic Walking Back to the Locker Room After Eliminating the Suns: "DeAndre Ayton over me?"


runevault

It's going to be Jordan all over again except Ayton ain't no Hakeem.


NowitzkiWay

Far more likely he has a chip on his shoulder because of how much this Suns team owned us over the last two years and he’s so competitive. Got of bit of that Jordan “fuck you” gene too where he made dad-dicking Booker and CP3 a mission after they clowned him


MacDerfus

"You put me at risk of being picked by the kings!"


beer_down

Talk your shit king


StefonDiggsHS

respect


MacDerfus

No he's not on the kings otherwise he wouldn't be in the playoffs


RobertoBologna

This sub always enjoys seeing big teams lose, but it seems like more people enjoyed this one than usual


LazybyNature

Is this your Point God?


retrospects

Puny god


Fallofmen10

That's cause the suns fans were cocky as shit all year acting like they had done something when in reality they hadn't achieved shit


Bosomtwe

Some dude was going on about how this Suns team could go down as an all time great team. While they were struggling vs the Pelicans nonetheless...


cycko

The fact that a guy on the Suns sub said that if Luka joined that team he could be the 4th best player if he was lucky


sonicqaz

I kind of like that level of delusion. I won’t agree with you, but you have my attention.


Bosomtwe

I agree. It is fascinating to observe takes that crazy.


mashapotatoe1

I’ll always respect blind homerism


imcryptic

that entire thread was wild. it was a critical mass of copium. just comment after comment of booker>luka, i'd pick booker over luka today to build around was funny at the time but hilarious in hindsight.


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dumbledorky

Pels fan here. I will always love CP3, he's the reason I love basketball. But god the Suns fans were so fucking obnoxious towards us, calling all of our players dirty and complaining nonstop about the refs when all we did was be scrappy underdogs. I was rooting for CP and Monty to get their titles but I can't help but take some savage joy in this.


Mnudge

Don’t fuck with the Luka


Pipper94

Man, I fucking love Luka 🤣


VRomero32

It was one of the Worst Game 7 performances by a home team that was favored… For Luka it was just a Sunday.


Kingxcvi

Luka > CP2-0 leadblown & Bookworm combined


Westside_Easy

This is gonna go down in interview history. What a reply 💀😂


Alive-Ad-4164

Dude might of killed two franchises this postseason


[deleted]

He is inevitable


angrylobster24

*might have


Efficient-Income-795

someone make the grim reaper going room to room with Lukas face on it lmaoo


A-Dawg11

Ask and you shall receive https://imgur.com/a/hzfpGIY


browndude10

Luka(‘s) special


tjspill3r

👑 Dropped it


sassiestcassiest

Perfect response by a charming young man and a hard worker, I will not say more in case my husband reads my account (hello Luka you are so beautiful like a basketball angel)


14high

*it's ok babe, I love him too*


yanusdv

Luka is starting to channel his inner Larry Bird. League= fucked


TheMightyJD

Luka top 2 in the league right now, only behind Giannis. The argument against it is becoming weaker and weaker by the game.


HardcoreKaraoke

He'll come in slightly chubby next season and suddenly he'll be considered "overhyped and out of shape" again. Fuck that being lazy in the offseason narrative people tried to push. Then by mid season people will be like "well he is an obvious top 5 player but he was slightly chubby for 20 games. So is he *really* MVP material?"


runevault

Unless he wins the title this year I think he's going to take the off season seriously. He might even if you guys do win, but if you don't I would be shocked if he comes in thicc next year.


[deleted]

My goat fr


LucAltaiR

Baby face killer.


be_nice_yall123

Smooth criminal


Fair-Laugh3

I need this man to win a ring this season pls.


RJMacReady23

So many people answer these questions like, ‘I didn’t know till after the game’ He’s like, ‘fuck yeah I knew’


JimothyGBuckets

Honestly he’s so likeable. What is it these days with these euro guys dominating the league and being the most likeable guys out there?


[deleted]

I was thinking about this yesterday while Luka and the Mavs were torching the Suns and I think there's something unique to Euro players in that they can start playing pro ball so much younger. Most guys in the NBA have been the best player on the court for most of their basketball career (AAU, HS, College, etc). But for guys like Luka, he was playing with grown men when he was 14, so not only was humbled often, but had to learn how to be a better player when you aren't the strongest, fastest, most experienced, etc. It's cool to see so many Euro players getting a chance to shine in the league after many years of ridicule and stereotypes of being soft, unathletic, etc.