The Suns Actually Did It

Last night the Phoenix Suns beat the Clippers in game six of the West Finals to advance to their first Finals since 1993. This is quite the feat.

I have seen all the stuff online about how this is fake. They got the Lakers when LeBron and AD were hurt. The Nuggets did not have Jamal Murray. And the Clippers were without Kawhi. While that is all true, the only series I thought they might not win was the Lakers series. The Lakers had a 2-1 lead, then the injuries happened and then they imploded. But LeBron was still there. They were still the defending champs. As for the Nuggets, while not with Murray, they still had the league's MVP. Jokic was still in the lineup. So was Michael Porter Jr, Will Barton, Austin Rivers and all their subs. And Jokic was great. He did his thing. But that is what the Suns wanted. They let Jokic eat and dared the other players to beat them. They did not. The Suns swept them.

Then we have the Clippers. First off, all the Clipper fans complaining about the lack of "love" they get, or that everyone that doesn't root for them are "haters" or that Paul George and the rest of the team gets too much hate, get over it. I am a Michigan football fan. I do not want to hear about it. I have heard it my whole life. Michigan has a ton of fans, but there are more people that hate them, and I guarantee they hate Michigan football much, much more than anyone hates the Clippers. And for the fans that claim this season a "success", that is the deepest form of sports regret. This team should have at least gone to the Finals once. I picked them to go twice. This team was built around star power that has playoff success, and the best they have done is a six game series in the West Finals. This experiment hasn't worked yet, there is time, but so far it has not been great. They flamed out in the bubble, and they got beat easily, granted without Kawhi, by the Suns.

This was all to simply give the Suns their flowers. Now, I do want to say that I do not like their bandwagon fans. That idiot with the "Suns in 4" shirt that started a fight, he is the worst of the worst. Most of their other fans are not so great people. I disagree with a lot of their ideals and beliefs. They are bad, mean people. But for players like Devin Booker, Deandre Ayton, Mikail Bridges, Dario Saric, Cam Payne and, especially Chris Paul, this is awesome. They have been mostly healthy all season. They have played exceptional team defense. Their offense is very good. Monty Williams has done a hell of a job in his first year as their head coach. This team deserves to be here. They have been one of the best teams in the league all season, they were the two seed, they had one of the harder paths to get here and they did it. They did it with relative ease in fact. They are as solid a team as the NBA has right now. They remind me of the Spurs teams that were led by Tim Duncan, except they are more fun. Devin Booker is a knock down shooter. He is every bit as advertised. He is going to lead the league in scoring very soon. Deandre Ayton is a great, great modern big. He can stretch the floor a bit, he is a great rebounder, he is great around the rim, he is proving he was worth the number one pick. Mikail Bridges was an absolute steal when they traded for him on draft night. He can shoot and he plays great defense with his long arms.

This season is all about Chris Paul for me. He was the missing piece. I have been hard on CP3 his whole career too. He never made it to the big stage, until now. He is still a flopper, but it has worked so far. He has always been dirty, but that has played to his benefit. Just look at what Patrick Beverly did to him last night. He shoved him in the back when Paul wasn't even looking. That is not a good look, but we all know CP3 did something, and Beverly reacted wrong. Beverly will be, and should be, suspended for what he did. But to me it just proved that CP3 was in his head. His talking got to him and neutralized him. He did exactly what he wanted. And it worked. Chris Paul has been everything that the Suns needed and hoped and now he, and the franchise, are reaping the benefits. They are back in the Finals. I actually think they will win. I believe the gambling places have them as the odds on favorites. That is due to the young guys accepting their roles, and the addition of CP3. The Suns did it. They are in the Finals. Now they have to wait for their opponent. But again, I think they will win it all.

Congrats to the Suns.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing, the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast, and the greatest basketball writer on the internet.

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