One Defining Question for Each Second-Round NBA Playoff Series

The 2023 NBA playoffs are off to quite the roaring start: an all-time classic seven-game series topped with a 50-point bow; an upset so unthinkable that it prompted an examination of the very concept of failure; one of the league’s most hated players embarking on a series of self-owns so egregious that they became a kind of performance art; incredible showings from the Knicks, who clobbered their way out of the first round for just the second time since 2000, and from Knicks fans, who are only getting stronger; a legend-making run from Jimmy Butler; injuries to elite players that altered the entire postseason landscape; and enough breaks in the field to set up an even more fascinating second round.

The best basketball is yet to come. To set the table, let’s wade through all four series by answering one defining question for each.

Can Phoenix generate enough easy offense to keep up with Denver?

Every Suns game is an exhibition of pure shotmaking ability—a duet from two of the most unstoppable creators in the sport as they convert every look imaginable. Kevin Durant draws multiple defenders on virtually every play, and it doesn’t make a lick of difference. Devin Booker will sprint his way through an entire possession before knocking down a leaning jumper with a hand in his face. That kind of scoring is as invaluable as it is impressive. Yet Phoenix might be better off in this series if it didn’t have to rely quite so much on being impressive—seeing as Durant and Booker combined for 56 points on 58 percent shooting in Game 1, and even those superhuman efforts couldn’t save the Suns from getting blown out by the Nuggets.

Slowing down Denver’s offense would go a long way toward equalizing the series, but also, good luck with that. You do your best to mitigate Nikola Jokic’s playmaking, you try to prevent Jamal Murray from heating up again, and you track every cutter and shooter you can as they spiral around the floor. Your best defensive efforts might work sometimes, but often, they won’t; Phoenix doesn’t have the personnel to be a great defensive team, but it can be good enough. It ultimately might be more crucial for the Suns to find ways to make their own scoring efforts a bit less arduous. Phoenix can trust that Durant and Booker will largely hit difficult shots at improbably high rates. After all, it’s what they do. Winning this series, however, could depend on whether the Suns can supplement all those contested midrange jumpers with the kind of easy, filler offense that carries teams through games and series.

How can you leverage the attention that Durant and Booker draw to get more dump-off passes and open dunks for Deandre Ayton? (OK, open layups.) It’s challenging with the way Denver is rotating and switching, but it’s far from impossible. How can you string out Jokic in coverage to get a clear path to the basket more often? This Nuggets…