Matchup nightmare deepens for Suns vs. underdog Lakers The Suns raced out to the No. 2 seed only to

The Phoenix Suns came into this tricky trap-door playoff series with some legit concerns, which in hindsight really hadn’t been all that bad. Now, they seem worse.

Phoenix is halfway to a summer vacation, a place this franchise has known all too well over the last decade, a place the Suns were hoping to avoid and delay at least for a while this time … and then they drew the Lakers in the first round. In that sense, the Suns’ timing is poor, much like a water buffalo making a wrong turn and stumbling into a lion’s den.

The Suns are the No. 2 seed in the West, which of course means absolutely nothing when the No. 7 seed happens to be the reigning champion Los Angeles Lakers lead by LeBron James and Anthony Davis. After missing a combined 63 games, they’re anxious to resume where they left off in the 2020 restart bubble.

It’s now 2-1 Lakers after Thursday’s 109-95 victory and by all accounts the seedings should be flip-flopped if only for cosmetic purposes. The Lakers are the heavy. The Lakers own momentum. The Lakers are favored to win two more. The Lakers are the Lakers.

The Suns? They had a nice regular season, one of great progress, given their recent history of skipping the postseason. But once again, the playoffs are a different animal, one that demands the beast in you, or else. And right now, the Suns are suffering from a lack of ferocity against a team built to last much longer.

The main problem for Phoenix, aside from Chris Paul not being able to use his right hand to scratch his back without a wince, is a lousy matchup. Anybody but the Lakers — this should’ve been the first item on the Suns’ wish list to the basketball gods, who evidently ignored those pleas.

Here’s whats troubling the Suns:

1) They aren’t constructed to defend LeBron and Davis. Sure, few teams are. Other teams, though, can at least bring athletic bigs into the picture. Phoenix can’t. LeBron is being guarded mostly by Mikal Bridges, who gives away almost 50 pounds. Seizing the opportunity, LeBron goes into post-up mode whenever Bridges is across from him. Meanwhile, same goes for Davis, who sees mostly Jae Crowder, who lacks the length needed to compete with an All-Star forward who can score from anywhere. LeBron and Davis averaged 56 points combined the last two games.

2) Their long-distance shooting is spotty. Crowder in particular came up empty in that regard Thursday, going 0-for-6 on 3-pointers until making his final attempt. Overall, the Suns’ starters were 4-for-15. That won’t cut it.

3) The Suns have limitations in reserve. Frustrated by the team’s lack of quality size with the exception of Deandre Ayton, coach Monty Williams turned to Frank Kaminsky for important playoff minutes. Kaminsky was cut in the preseason … by the Sacramento Kings.

4) Devin Booker hasn’t seriously hurt the Lakers. In the Suns’ two losses, Booker shot 13-for-36. He’s the club’s first option by far, and coming off an All-Star season. He is a handful for even the league’s elite defenders. In this series, though, he must be Superman or close enough. Especially because …

5) Paul once again is a part-time player. The bum shoulder followed him to a third game and was problematic enough to limit him to 27 minutes (this after playing 23 minutes prior), none in the final 9 1/2 minutes. Paul isn’t on the floor deep into games, when his composure, wisdom and bucket-making is most needed. Whenever Paul left Game 3, he was worked over on the bench like a cornerman in a championship fight. The Suns’ medical staff is grinding in overtime with him.

So that’s the story. The Lakers own the upper hand and they know it. This mindset was captured in an entertaining moment in the fourth quarter, in front of the Lakers bench, when LeBron James was aggressively egged on by teammates while he went mano-a-mano against Crowder.

LeBron did a Curly Neal impression by dribbling between his legs, and later finished Crowder off with an up-and-under reverse layup. It was more unfair than disrespectful. Or, maybe both.

The only red flag for the Lakers happened when Davis executed a chase-down block of Booker in the second quarter, landed funny, and spent the rest of the game running very gingerly. But running nonetheless.

The Lakers collectively are running in step, too, away from the Suns and toward the next round if you read the tea leaves of this series and they aren’t lying. A two-seed is wobbly and a seven-seed is strutting. The math says this would be an upset if the lower seed wins. The matchup says: Maybe not.

Shaun Powell has covered the NBA for more than 25 years. You can e-mail him here, find his archive here and follow him on Twitter.

The views on this page do not necessarily reflect the views of the NBA, its clubs or Turner Broadcasting.

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Jazz indefinitely ban three fans for verbal incident directed at Ja Morant's family
The Jazz said they are committed to 'ensuring a safe and respectful environment' for everyone at Vivint Arena.

The Utah Jazz have banned three fans from further attending events at Vivint Arena for a verbal incident that occurred during Game 2 of the first-round series between the Jazz and Memphis Grizzlies on Wednesday night.

The Jazz did not reveal specifics of the incident, but Grizzlies guard Ja Morant — who had family at the game — said the three people who were banned “just went too far.” He also commented on the incident on Twitter, writing, “My family should be able cheer for me & my teammates without getting inappropriate [expletive] said to them.”

In a statement, the Jazz said: “The Utah Jazz have zero tolerance for offensive or disruptive behavior. An incident occurred last night involving a verbal altercation during Game 2. Arena security staff intervened, and the investigation resulted in the removal and banning of three Jazz fans indefinitely. We apologize to all who were impacted by this unfortunate incident and condemn unacceptable fan behavior. The Utah Jazz are committed to ensuring a safe and respectful environment.”

In an interview with ESPN’s Tim MacMahon, Morant’s father, Tee Morant, said there were three separate incidents with male Jazz fans. Per Tee Morant, each of those incidents was handled quickly by Vivint Arena security.

“I know heckling,” Tee Morant said in a phone interview with ESPN on Thursday evening. “We were doing that the whole game. But that’s different than heckling. That’s straight up disrespectful. That was too far out of line. You don’t say nothing like that heckling. That’s beyond heckling.”

New Jazz owner Ryan Smith wrote in a tweet Thursday: “Memphis Grizzlies and Morant family … we are embarrassed and sorry. The @utahjazz have zero tolerance for offensive behavior. We are committed to creating a respectful, competitive environment.”

Morant later tweeted Thursday that despite the interaction his family members had with those Jazz fans, the other Jazz fans in the building did not act similarly. “My family told me they felt the love from all the other jazz fans who were around them … even bought each other drinks with a few. Those 3 just went too far,” Morant wrote.

Jazz star Donovan Mitchell also took to social media to voice his displeasure about the behavior of those fans, writing: “I’m glad those fans were banned and they should never be allowed back … this is ridiculous!!! The fact that these words are being thrown around to players and there families is ridiculous! Enough is enough smh!”

The New York Knicks and Philadelphia 76ers each banned a fan from their respective arenas and issued apologies Thursday for incidents during playoff games, and the NBA said that rules surrounding fan behavior will be “vigorously enforced” going forward.

Both incidents took place during playoff games Wednesday. The Knicks said they banned a fan from Madison Square Garden for spitting on Atlanta guard Trae Young, while the 76ers banned a fan who threw popcorn on Washington guard Russell Westbrook.

On Wednesday, the NBA released a statement on fan behavior at arenas that said: “The return of more NBA fans to our arenas has brought great excitement and energy to the start of the playoffs, but it is critical that we all show respect for players, officials and our fellow fans.  An enhanced fan code of conduct will be vigorously enforced in order to ensure a safe and respectful environment for all involved.”

Nuggets continue to shred Blazers with Jusuf Nurkic off the floor
It's no coincidence Austin Rivers' eruption in the 4th quarter came after Jusuf Nurkic fouled out with 5:15 left.

With a little less than four minutes to go in a tight playoff game, Kia MVP front-runner Nikola Jokic, at 6-foot-11, was being defended by 6-foot-7 Robert Covington. Austin Rivers, initially signed by the Denver Nuggets to a 10-day contract less than six weeks ago, saw the mismatch and decided it was his time to shine.

Rivers drained a step-back jumper over CJ McCollum, three of his 16 fourth-quarter points that helped the Nuggets withstand a comeback from the Portland Trail Blazers and pull out a 120-115 victory in Portland on Thursday. With the win, the Nuggets took a 2-1 series lead and regained home-court advantage in their first round series.

Here are some notes from a game the Nuggets won despite being outscored, 50-26, in the restricted area.

Number to know
52-36 — The Blazers ranked 29th defensively this season, allowing 115.3 points per 100 possessions. But they were much better with Jusuf Nurkic on the floor (allowing 108.2 per 100) than they were with him off the floor (116.6). That was the eighth-biggest differential among players who played at least 750 minutes for a single team this season.

That trend has continued into the playoffs. And in a five-point loss on Thursday, the Blazers were outscored, 52-36, with Nurkic off the floor. Those 52 Denver points came on just 36 offensive possessions, a rate of 144 per 100.

Nurkic first sat down with 5:03 left in the first quarter and the Blazers up 26-20. With Enes Kanter on the floor in Nurkic’s place, Denver proceeded to score 19 points on their final 10 possessions of the period, turning that six-point deficit into a nine-point lead. With that, Nurkic was on the floor for the entire second quarter.

Kanter got a second chance late in the third quarter but committed a flagrant foul on Jokic and was replaced by Rondae Hollis-Jefferson (who had previously played just garbage time in Game 2) just 47 seconds after he subbed in for Nurkic. And when Nurkic fouled out wi