Reggie Miller would be 'very surprised' if Phoenix Suns don't reach NBA Finals this year

NBA Hall of Famer Reggie Miller said the only sure thing in the Western Conference playoffs this year is a healthy Phoenix Suns team.

“It’s hard for me to bet against them,” Miller said. “The West is wide open other than Phoenix in my opinion.”

The Suns are a fourth seed, but with the addition of superstar Kevin Durant, Miller believes they should reach the 2023 NBA Finals.

“Any team that Kevin Durant is on should be a favorite,” Miller said. “Now you pair him with Devin Booker and probably the best floor general that we’ve seen over the last 18 to 20 years in Chris Paul.”

Miller and fellow TNT NBA analyst Greg Anthony discussed the upcoming postseason Thursday afternoon on a media Zoom call. The Suns start their postseason run at home against the fifth-seeded Clippers in Sunday’s Game 1 of the Western Conference first-round series.

“I would be very surprised if the Suns don’t represent the West, but again, it’s why you play the games,” Miller said.

Miller addressed how Phoenix has come up short the last two seasons in losing to the Bucks in the 2021 finals after having a 2-0 series lead and falling to Dallas in last year’s conference semifinals in seven games as the Suns were the No. 1 overall seed.

The Suns were 30-26 this season when they moved Mikal Bridges, Cam Johnson, Jae Crowder, four first-round draft picks and a pick swap to Brooklyn for T.J. Warren and Durant right before the Feb. 9 trade deadline.

They are 8-0 with Durant in the lineup, but the Suns are still a work in progress when it comes to team chemistry.

Still, Miller sees the Suns advancing to the finals if they stay healthy.

“Two disappointing seasons, you add one of the best players ever in Kevin Durant, I would be surprised,” he said. “Again, it would take a lot for me not to pick the Suns coming out of the West just for the simple fact you’ve got two guys now who are the masters of the midrange (in Durant and Booker). You can just throw them the ball and say, go get me a bucket. Go get me a midrange and they can create offense for others.”

Miller noted Paul’s injury history in the postseason to reiterate his point about the health of the Suns.

“A hamstring, a hand,” Miller said. “It’s always been something. Health will always be a factor in terms of the Suns. Fluke injuries. The whole Kevin Durant twisting his ankle in warmups.”

Durant would’ve likely played more than eight games for Phoenix had he not twisted his left ankle on March 8 in a pregame workout before what would’ve been his Suns home debut.

The two-time finals MVP missed 10 games with the ankle injury.

“It’s little things that could happen to the Suns that could derail them, but when healthy and whole, very difficult for me to bet against them,” Miller said.

Anthony racked his brain to recall when a superstar joined a team at the trade deadline, was the “consensus” best player on the new team and that team won it all that year.

“They still haven’t been through any real fires yet,” Anthony said. “They haven’t faced any adversity in the postseason. They haven’t dealt with one of their top guys maybe missing a game with an injury. They haven’t gone through that yet. So that’s the one area of concern I would say is that we think we know, but we don’t know because we haven’t seen this team together really that long.”

Anthony is curious to see how Phoenix responds in a playoff series against another great team that can make in-game and next-day adjustments.

“That stuff still has to play out,” he said. “That is why you’ve got to play and you factor in the level of confidence you’re going to have in this Western Conference one through eight. This isn’t a normal 1-8 scenario. You’re going to have teams that don’t have home court in the first round that literally think they’re going to win a championship this year and that level of confidence will play a role as well.”

Anthony began his breakdown of the Suns-Clippers matchup by talking about Paul George being sidelined with a right knee sprain. The Clippers will start the series without the All-Star wing.

“You don’t get the benefit of attacking the same way offensively against Phoenix if you had two dynamic wing players that can score at all three levels, get to the free throw line and also make plays,” said Anthony in talking about Kawhi Leonard and George.

Anthony believes Russell Westbrook faces more pressure to perform at a high level.

“Ultimately, he’s the biggest key in this series,” Anthony said. “He’s got to play at a Westbrook level pre-Lakers and have a lot of impact on both ends and he’s got to also make the decisions. That’s the one area where you can talk about the talent, but in a series like this, decision-making is going to be big. Low turnovers. No live ball turnovers. No poor shots. All of those things are going to play a big role.”

At days end, Anthony can’t see the Clippers winning this series over the Suns unless Westbrook plays “at an extremely high level.”

Miller added that the Clippers are one of the rare teams in the league that’s used to playing without their top players. Leonard sat 30 games while George missed 26 this season.

“They’ve got a lot of depth,” Miller said. “Missing Paul (George) is huge, but they’re used to playing without him, but it’s a different beast when you’re going up against Devin Booker, Kevin Durant and Chris Paul.”

If the Suns advance, they’ll play Denver or Minnesota in the conference semifinals.

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The Nuggets are the No. 1 seed, but Anthony and Miller aren’t sold on them being the favorite to come out of the West.

“Denver better have some wakeup calls because they could find themselves out of this thing real quick,” Miller said.

Anthony took it a step further by saying “no one” views the Nuggets as a No. 1 seed.

“That’s part of the issue for them,” Anthony said. “If this was Phoenix as a one seed, everyone would think they are the best team. That’s the mountain we have to climb. That is the barometer and that’s where we got to go. Because of the inconsistency they’ve had this season and the fact that defensively, they don’t put a lot of fear in you, I think that’s part of it.”

The Nuggets ranked 15^th in the NBA in defensive rating at the end of the regular season.

Anthony continued by questioning whether reigning two-time MVP Nikola Jokic can put up big scoring nights in the postseason.

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The Nuggets All-Star center averaged 24.5 points, 11.8 rebounds and 9.8 assists this regular season. He finished second in the league in rebounding and third in assists but is 18^th in scoring.

“As great as the Joker is and Jamal Murray, your mindset going into a game, you’re not thinking that tonight, he can give me 50,” Anthony said. “If we’re not careful, he could go for 40 or 50. Like most of the truly great players, you feel that way about them. If you’re going against Phoenix, you think that Booker or Durant could give you 50. Your mindset, that’s the approach you come with. That’s the level you know and the edge and uneasiness that you got to approach it cause of their greatness.”

Anthony also named Grizzlies All-Star Ja Morant, Golden State’s championship backcourt of Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson, and Leonard as players who can put up explosive numbers.

“As great as the Joker is, he’s going to stuff the stat sheet, but can he go give me 40 or 50 against a great team when everything is on the line," Anthony said. "Sometimes, you’re not going be able to just pass your way to wins. You’re going to have to physically, especially in a seven-game series because with each game, we know each other more. That’s when the great players become more important. We talk about the supporting cast. They can get you so far, but ultimately, your great players have to have those performances that are signature.”

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Have opinion about current state of the Suns? Reach Suns Insider Duane Rankin at dmrankin@gannett.com or contact him at 480-787-1240. Follow him on Twitter at @DuaneRankin.

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This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Reggie Miller says Phoenix Suns should reach finals with Kevin Durant