SUMMARY
- The Phoenix Suns have gone 0-2 against the Minnesota Timberwolves in round one of the playoffs.
- Historically, no team with two players averaging over 27 points per game have been able to win a title.
The Phoenix Suns set a ton of expectations of themselves during the off-season after making a couple of blockbuster acquisitions. From signing a couple of top-tier free agents like Grayson Allen, and then acquiring Bradley Beal, the bar was set quite high. Coming into the 2023-24 season, the Suns were expected to be one of the best teams in the Western Conference, if not the best.
This season’s version of “I’m fine in the West.”pic.twitter.com/4qITrFi4Js
— NBA Memes (@NBAMemes) April 24, 2024
Just before the Suns could commence their regular season run, Devin Booker made a few comments that never necessarily aged well. During an interview, Booker said, “I mean saying it respectfully, I don’t know how teams are going to guard us.” This ended up setting the standards quite high for the Suns who were going to run a Big 3 starring Kevin Durant, Bradley Beal, and Booker as well.
Devin Booker and Kevin Durant have set themselves up for an unusual career feat
After a regular season run plagued with multiple injuries, the Suns barely got out of the Play-In Tournament berths and into the playoffs. One would say it was their luck that helped them dethrone the New Orleans Pelicans by the end of the season. However, they were paired against the best defensive team in the entire NBA, Minnesota Timberwolves. And as expected, the Suns haven’t been able to win two games into the first-round series.
No duo has ever won the championship with each averaging 27+ points for an entire season in NBA history 👀
’23-24 Kevin Durant & Devin Booker (Suns)
’02-03 Shaq & Kobe Bryant (Lakers)
’64-65 Elgin Baylor & Jerry West (Lakers) pic.twitter.com/38wBZNIXDi— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) April 24, 2024
A statistic shows that NBA teams with two 27-points per-game scorers have never been able to win the championship. During the 2002-03 season, Shaquille O’Neal and Kobe Bryant averaged 27.5 and 30 points respectively. They didn’t make it past the second round. Similarly, Jerry West and Elgin Baylor also couldn’t win the title despite averaging over 27 points each in 1965.
This season, the Phoenix Suns duo also averaged over 27 points per game each. Based on their first-round run so far, the Suns do not seem like they’ll win the title, and Booker is definitely going to be the butt of the joke soon.
Can the Phoenix Suns win the championship?
The Phoenix Suns do not seem like the team they were supposed to with Durant, Beal, and Booker on the roster. After Games 1 and 2, the Suns haven’t developed enough chemistry to know how to work with each other. During the regular season, they were one of the best offensive teams ranking among the top ten in league in points and fifth in the league in field goal percentage.
By acquiring Jusuf Nurkic, the Suns acquired an extra piece to rely on scoring as he averaged 10.9 points along with 11 rebounds. Beal averaged 18.2 points per game which was an added scoring option to the roster alongside Durant and Booker. On paper, they seemed like a well-rounded team that could win the championship. However, things have begun to unravel in the first-round series going 0-2 against the Wolves, who don’t have a scorer like them. Winning the championship seems quite unlikely.