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It appears that the chances of Kevin Durant and the Phoenix Suns making the NBA Finals this year might be low after going 2-0 in their series against the Denver Nuggets.
Denver took a commanding lead on Monday night as they beat Phoenix 97-87. To make things worse, the Suns' star point guard Chris Paul was sidelined in Game 2 due to a groin injury.
Chris Paul made an early third quarter exit on Monday after feeling some tightness in his groin and only ended up playing 25 minutes in Game 2. While Suns fans are hopeful that "CP3" will return for Game 3, it appears that the veteran will be out longer than expected.
Shams Charania reported that Paul will be re-evaluated this week and is expected to miss games 3-5. With that said, Devin Booker and Kevin Durant will need to figure out a way to facilitate the offense without their crafty point guard by their side.
Can Kevin Durant and the Suns make a comeback without Chris Paul?
If we're going to look at Chris Paul's stats in their series against the Denver Nuggets alone, his absence shouldn't be much of a difference for the Phoenix Suns.
Paul has so far only averaged 9.5 points, 5.5 assists, and 2.5 rebounds in the semifinals. Unlike his performances against the LA Clippers in the first round, "CP3" has struggled to find his rhythm against the Nuggets.
With that in mind, the only adjustments Kevin Durant and the Suns need to make is how they facilitate play without Paul and how they're going to defend the perimeter.
As KD mentioned after their Game 1 loss to Denver, he acknowledged that Phoenix isn't going to win if he doesn't rotate the ball more. Durant has only dished out one assist in their first game and three assists in Game 2. It was mainly Devin Booker who helped Chris Paul rotate the ball. But with Paul out of the picture, "Slim Reaper" will have to kick it up a notch.
It's no secret that Kevin Durant is a score-first player. However, given the circumstances, Durant will need to make the adjustments that he promised to make after Game 1.
