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The Joker is not going to be playing any games at home tonight. This is a must-win game as home teams have held serve. It’s unlikely Devin Booker can keep up his insane shooting on the road coupled with Kevin Durant having a huge game as well. If one just has a bit of an off-night, Denver cruises.
Devin Booker is locked in right now. He shot 20-for-25 from the field in Game 3 and 14-for-18 in Game 4. That resulted in him scoring 47 and 36 points, respectively. After scoring “just” 27 points in a lopsided loss in Game 1, Booker has scored at least 35 points in three straight games. He should have the ball in his hands a ton with Chris Paul (groin) still out, leaving him with even more opportunities to score.
Have seen nothing that makes me think the road team will win for the first time in this series in Game 5 now that we know Nikola Jokic isn't suspended. Sure, Devin Booker and Kevin Durant could combine for 80 and steal it, but I don't see that happening in Denver. This is also when the Suns will really start to miss Chris Paul. Backup Cam Payne's numbers were massively worse away from home during the season. Jamal Murray broke out of his mini-slump in Game 4, which is only good news for the Nugs in Game 5. They are unbeaten at home in this postseason. Good luck to Booker and KD each playing 40-plus minutes at altitude.
Kudos to the Suns for taking care of business at home and evening their series against the Nuggets. Denver will now have the luxury of playing at home where the Nuggets went 34-7 in the regular season and are 5-0 in the playoffs. For the Suns, having two players account for nearly 70 percent of the points is not sustainable. I also expect Denver's complementary players to perform better at home.
On Sunday's Early Edge I stated that I wanted the Suns to win Game 4 so that we can get a modest number for Denver in Game 5. So far so good as Phoenix has shown just enough to keep the Game 5 number reasonable. I'm simply backing the team with way more depth and way more team chemistry. They could have easily won both games at Phoenix and I think they run away with this one at home.