Time is a flat circle. As much as it evokes dread, history does tend to repeat itself. And now, 360 days after the Phoenix Suns’ inexplicable Game 7 collapse against the Dallas Mavericks in the 2022 NBA playoffs, which happened at home no less, they find themselves in familiar territory despite adding one of the greatest players of all time in Kevin Durant to their ranks.
The energy in Footprint Center in the first quarter was palpable. But as the Suns stars clanked one shot after another, the crowd became more and more hushed. And who could blame them? The Denver Nuggets, a team that needs to win just one more game to advance to the Western Conference Finals, ended the first quarter on fire, going on a 17-0 run to lead by 18, 44-26. And they have not looked back.
The Nuggets continued to force a ton of turnovers, force a ton of difficult shots from Devin Booker and Kevin Durant, and as a result, they headed into the halftime locker room leading by 30 points, 81-51 — the same halftime deficit the Suns faced in Game 7 against the Mavs.
Of course, Twitter never forgets, and they clowned the Suns for yet another lifeless display at home with their season on the line.
The Suns really doing the same thing they did last season with the Mavs
— Pineapple (@pizza_exellence) May 12, 2023
Lmao the Suns are getting COOKED! Repeat of last year? The Suns were eliminated by a blowout game vs the Mavs in the Western Semi Finals #nba
— BigGucci (@SmoochieMyGucci) May 12, 2023
Am i watching game 7 mavs vs suns or …
— RK Luka (@LD77x41) May 12, 2023
Suns fans talked all that shit to Mavs fans only for another fat European to kick their team out of the playoffs again
— 𝙨𝙚𝙖 𝙛𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙠 (@seafreak13) May 12, 2023
Suns Downfall
Im gonna enjoy myself. Go Mavs!
— Diet Dew Drinker (@bigkam41) May 12, 2023
Beyond this expected reaction, others already went on to play the blame game. Some couldn’t help but express their frustrations at Deandre Ayton, who failed to suit up in Game 6 due to a rib injury, while some hurled their concerns towards Suns head coach Monty Williams.
Dawg get Monty Williams up outta there. How tf do you let KC FCKIN P DROP DAMN NEAR 30
— Jordan Johnson (@_JJAYY53) May 12, 2023
Pathetic showing from the suns. We trade away our future and get embarrassed again. Ishbia needs to clean house this off season, starting with Monty. He brought the Suns back to prominence but he isn’t the one to get over the hump. Don’t get me started on DA, wildcat trash.
— Robert Scheib (@robertscheib) May 12, 2023
Suns fans blamed DA for the finals lost goin 1 on 1 with giannis
Ridiculed DA for Mavs even doe he only got 5 shots
Tried to blame him for this series
Whole time it was Monty pic.twitter.com/xin6RHivP1
— Noah Sims (@Simscity94) May 12, 2023
Nevertheless, the onus to lift the Suns to great heights doesn’t necessarily fall on either Williams or Ayton’s shoulders. That falls on Devin Booker and Kevin Durant. But they were not at their best in Game 6, and it has cost them dearly. Durant shot just 2-8 in the first half, while Booker stunk it up, going 4-13 for just 12 points through the first three quarters.
Kd runnin from the grind in brooklyn just to get smoked with phoenix #nbatwitter
— M.A.D.E (@Athleteforeverr) May 12, 2023
Phoenix really traded EIGHT PLAYERS for KD Now I hope yall understand why the raptors didn’t go all in for that trade,
— OheneKwame Raps 2019 NBA CHAMPS 24/8 KB (@Ohenekwame416) May 12, 2023
NBA fans expect too much from their stars. You can’t expect Cam Payne to carry the whole team without much help from his supporting cast in Booker and Durant.
— Joseph Bonifacio (@josephbonifacio) May 12, 2023
It’ll be a long offseason once again for the Suns as they process yet another defeat of this magnitude. Meanwhile, the Nuggets now await the winner of the Golden State Warriors and Los Angeles Lakers bloodbath.
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