Suns vs Nuggets
Starters
G: CP3 vs J Murray
G: D Booker vs KCP
F: T Craig vs M Porter Jr
F: Durant vs A Gordon
C: Ayton vs Jokic
I like Denver in 3 of the 5 matchups - Jokic over Ayton, J Murray over CP3, MPJ over Craig. PHO with big advantages at SG and PF with Booker and Durant.
Reserves
G: C Payne vs R Jackson / Ish Smith
G: D Lee vs C Braun
F: Okogie vs B Brown
F: TJ Warren vs Jeff Green
C: Biyombo / Landale vs T Bryant
Others: T Ross, L Shamet, Bazley for PHO. Nnaji, Cancar, D Jordan for DEN.
If Cameron Payne returns, PHO have an advantage at backup PG. If not, they are at a disadvantage as they have no real PG on their bench. I like PHO at SG with Damion Lee over Braun. I also like PHO at C with Biyombo or Landale over T Bryant because both of PHO's Cs are capable of providing solid team defense & rebounding while T Bryant is not.
TJ Warren vs Jeff Green will be an interesting matchup. Or maybe they will go with Bazley. Maybe Warren isn't healthy enough. Hard to know how that plays out.
Bruce Brown should have the advantage at SF over Okogie. Brown a more complete offensive player and better rebounder. Can create some offense. Dribble, drive, pass, finish.
DEN's bench really sucks. They only got 6 guys on that team that they can rely on. I hoped R Jackson would give them a 7th but that hasn't happened.
