The Phoenix Suns had such high hopes of winning its first NBA championship in 2023 but have crashed out in six to Nikola Jokic and the Denver Nuggets.
The Nuggets topped the Western Conference during the regular season and booked its first Conference Finals appearance since 2019-20, making relatively short work of the Suns.
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The 125-100 win in Phoenix on the back of another triple-double from Jokic was the nail in the coffin.
But while it was bad for his team, 211cm Aussie centre Jock Landale impressed for the Suns in a lopsided result. In fact, he’s had a strong series that had fans believing he has a big future in the NBA.
The 27-year-old, who is an unrestricted free agent after completing his two-year deal, was the shining light for the Suns.
In what was his first career playoff start, Landale scored a playoff career-high 13 points, five rebounds, one assist and a block in 31 minutes of game-time in the absence of Deandre Ayton, who was ruled out two hours before tip-off with a rib contusion.
The Suns were also battling without veteran point guard Chris Paul, who was sidelined with a groin injury sustained in game two of the series.
But in a team which still featured Kevin Durant and Devin Booker, Landale was +7 for the match, only one of two players to have a positive +/-, along with Damion Lee, who was +3 in 12 minutes of game-time.
For the record, Durant was -13 having scored 23 points, five rebounds and five assists and Booker was -27 with 12 points, one rebound and eight assists.
While for many Landale’s stats wouldn’t stack up next to Jokic, who had a second straight triple-double including 32 points, 10 rebounds, 12 assists, three steals and block for a game-high +28, it’s an excellent result for the Aussie playing for another contract.
And fans were impressed by what they saw from Landale.
Landale, who was part of the Boomers team to win bronze at the Tokyo Olympics, will be hoping for a new deal out of his impressive performances.
He will get to push his credentials further at the FIBA World Cup in August after he was unsurprisingly selected in the Boomers’ extended squad.
However, his season is over as the Nuggets were the first team into the NBA Conference Finals, where they will play the winner of the Lakers and Warriors series.
Jokic said the Nuggets shrugged off the idea of a “hostile environment” at the Footprint Center and played with “the same mindset that we are playing with at home — just be aggressive, move them from the spots, make them make tough shots.
“And I think we did that,” Jokic told ESPN.
The Nuggets silenced the Phoenix crowd as they dominated virtually every facet of the game on the way to an 81-51 halftime lead — which sparked a smattering of boos from home spectators.
It was another disappointing exit for the Suns and Durant, who was traded mid-season from the Brooklyn Nets, was far from happy with the franchise’s second straight Conference Semi-Finals exit.
“It sucked,” the two-time NBA champion said. “It was a bad feeling. It was embarrassing. They came out and hit us in the mouth and we couldn’t recover.”
With AFP