Suns' Lack of Depth Ripped by Fans After Chris Paul Injury, Loss to Jokić, Nuggets

A familiar story for Chris Paul in the playoffs has turned into the Phoenix Suns' worst nightmare, as they have to dig themselves out of a massive hole following a 97-87 loss to the Denver Nuggets in Game 2 of the Western Conference semifinals.

Paul left the game late in the third quarter with a groin injury after getting tangled up with Kentavious Caldwell-Pope trying to box out.

Suns head coach Monty Williams told reporters after the game Paul couldn't push off "at all" because of the injury, but they won't know the severity of it until Tuesday.

The rest of the team outside of Durant, Booker, Paul and Deandre Ayton was horrendous shooting the ball in Game 2.

Fans and analysts had a lot of thoughts about the Suns' performance after Paul left the game.

It wasn't a secret the Suns lacked depth outside of their top four players, but possibly having to play at least one game in the series without Paul further emphasizes how much they need Kevin Durant and Devin Booker to carry them.

The duo of Durant and Booker combined to play 89 minutes and finish with 59 points, 13 rebounds and nine assists. Durant struggled from three-point range for the second successive game, though. He went 2-of-12 on Monday and has made three of 15 attempts in the series thus far.

Bismack Biyombo and Cameron Payne were the only Suns reserves to score. Their 87 points as a team were their fewest in a game since Jan. 2.

The Nuggets didn't even play that well, with 97 points on 7-of-27 shooting from three-point range. Nikola Jokić did put on a show with 36 points, 16 rebounds and five assists to carry his team.

Paul has an extensive injury history in the postseason that has caused him to miss several games over the years and hurt his teams.

The Suns do have three days off before hosting Game 3 on Friday at 10 p.m. ET. They need to use this time to find answers, otherwise their offseason will begin sooner than anyone anticipated when they acquired Durant in February.