With the Phoenix Suns sitting at 12–11, a lot of us are feeling like we’re wandering through the Sonoran desert with no map. We think we’re headed to Sedona but we look are an ask, “Why are we in Why?”. Arizona joke. It’s a town in the middle of nowhere.
The NBA’s highest-paid team is practically a .500 squad. There’s the “what”, there’s the “why”, and a whole lot of it boils down to one simple truth: this team is lost without Kevin Durant.
The Devin Booker and Bradley Beal Experiment? Let’s just say the science isn’t sciencing. And while the bench is better than last year’s duct-tape-and-prayer lineup, the starters — without Durant — have been inefficient, inconsistent, and, dare I say, softer than In-N-Out fries after 20 minutes.
Now, we’ve got a full week to reflect. No games until Friday when the Suns face the Utah Jazz. Maybe this break is a blessing in disguise. It’s a chance to momentarily escape the nightly frustration of watching the Suns drop games they should be winning, leaving us shouting at the TV and scaring our kitty cats.
Sure, it’s only December, but if we’ve learned anything from recent seasons, it’s that every game matters in a Western Conference as stacked as a Vegas buffet. Dropping a couple of winnable games in December can mean the difference between hosting a playoff series or booking flights to Cancun in April.
So, over the next few days, I’m cracking open a six-pack. Don’t worry, it’s a proverbial one. I’ll be taking a look at six different aspects of this team, trying to dissect the mystery that is the 2024–25 Phoenix Suns. Pull up a chair, grab crack open your favorite beverage, and let’s try to make sense of something that feels completely nonsensical.
First up? The Second Half Suns.
The second half of games has been a recurring challenge for the Suns this season, a frustrating continuation of a theme from last year. We all remember how they crumbled in the fourth quarter in 2023, finishing with a league-worst -195 point differential. So, how are they faring this year? Are there any trends worth noting?
Let’s start with the basics.
The Suns currently hold a -20 point differential for the season, ranking 14th in the NBA. It feels fitting, doesn’t it? At 12–11, they’re hovering around mediocrity. A 10th seed in the Western Conference but 14th overall in winning percentage at .522. It’s a reflection of where they stand: not terrible, not great, just stuck in the middle.
Here’s how the Suns’ point differential breaks down by quarter this season:
First Quarter: +16 point differential (11th in the NBA)
Second Quarter: +21 point differential (9th in the NBA)
First Half Total : +37 point differential (14th in the NBA)
Third Quarter: -58 point differential (24th in the NBA)
Fourth Quarter: +7 point differential (12th in the NBA)
Second Half Total : -51 point differential (23rd in the NBA)
There it is. The stats and the issue laid bare. The Suns have taken last season’s fourth-quarter woes and simply shifted them up a quarter. But the real question is the “why”. Why is this still happening? The team revamped its approach to point guard distribution, adding Tyus Jones and Monte Morris to the mix. So what’s the problem?
As with most of the Suns’ struggles this season, it circles back to Kevin Durant. He’s played in 13 games, and the Suns are 11-2 in those contests. In third-quarter minutes with Durant on the floor, he’s a +39, and the team is +33 overall in third quarters during games he’s played. Without him? The cracks begin to show.
In the 10 games Kevin Durant has missed this season, the third quarter tells a grim story:
Devin Booker is a staggering -92 in third-quarter minutes without Durant.
Bradley Beal, in the five games he’s played without Durant, is -35 in the third quarter.
Here’s how Devin Booker and Bradley Beal have fared in third quarters without Kevin Durant this season, based on their plus/minus:
Booker (10 games): -92
Beal (5 games): -35
— John Voita (@DarthVoita) December 9, 2024
The absence of Durant creates a glaring void, and the numbers speak for themselves.
That right there is the problem. The crux of what’s making this early stretch of the Suns’ season both frustrating and hard to watch. Someone needs to step up when Kevin Durant is out, especially coming into the third quarter when the Suns, more often than not, are starting with a lead. Instead, the team falters. They’re ineffective. And the two players being paid the most to ensure this doesn’t happen — Devin Booker and Bradley Beal — are nowhere to be found.
Let’s start with Booker. He’s averaging a brutal -9.7 in third quarters played without Durant this season. Let that sink in. That’s devastating for a player we love, revere, and celebrate as the heart and soul of the Phoenix Suns. Yet, right now, he’s not playing to the level we’ve come to expect. This isn’t to say he can’t turn things around. He absolutely can. But the reality is that opposing teams are making adjustments at halftime, targeting Booker, and the Suns as a team aren’t countering effectively.
Booker himself has to shoulder some responsibility, too. He needs to tap back into that Chris Paul-style “killer instinct” that used to define him, the mentality that made him unstoppable in crucial moments. Because, if we’re honest, that’s what’s missing. It’s as if that killer instinct stayed behind in Paris along the Seine.
Two things can be true at once: We can love Devin Booker for everything he is and everything he’s done, for the player he is on the court, and for the way he’s embraced the Phoenix community. But we can also be frustrated with his performance over these first 23 games, especially in Durant’s absence.
As for Bradley Beal? He is a -60 in third quarters overall this season and -77 in the second half. He has an opportunity to be the Robin to Booker’s Batman in these games in which Durant is out, and while his hustle is present, his production is not. It is as if having two shooting guards on a team, which forces one of them to be playing out of position at all times, isn't working. Who knew?
Averaging 4.7 turnovers per game of the last three doesn’t help either.
The team’s struggles coming out of halftime aren’t just about strategy or rotations; they’re about stars needing to play like superstars. Right now, that’s not happening. And until it does, this team will continue to sputter in those pivotal third quarters, choking away leads and praying for Kevin Durant to return.
Because with KD, the Suns are average. Well, technically they are way below average.