The Phoenix Suns’ defensive presence has been inconsistent at best through their opening three games, and one doesn’t have to look too hard at the on-court product or box scores to see why.
They’ve trailed by more than 15 points at halftime in each contest and the free throw disparity has been severe in their two losses.
On Saturday night, the Denver Nuggets got up 20 more attempts at the charity stripe (42-22) in a 133-111 Suns loss. The day prior, the Los Angeles Clippers had 26 free throws to the Suns’ 15.
With these deep first-half holes, Phoenix putting the opponent at the free-throw line has only added insult to injury.
Six Nuggets players shot at least four free throws and the starting five was a perfect 28-of-28.
Entering the 2025-26 season, the Nuggets and Clippers were projected by ESPN to be top-six teams (second and sixth, respectively) but it still doesn’t cut any slack for Phoenix.
“There’s no excuse for that. We’re going to have to be better defensively,” first-year coach Jordan Ott said postgame Saturday in Denver. “This is a defensive-minded group at times and we just lose our way, but we’re three games in. There’s a sample size to all this. A lot of that is who you play. I think we’ve played some good offenses.
“Find ways to guard better, find ways to attack better, but 133 (points), doesn’t matter where you’re at, that’s probably not going to get it done.”
Suns forward Dillon Brooks and his pesky defense sparked a successful rally from down as many as 20 points in the season opener against the Sacramento Kings, but he said the “communication” since Wednesday hasn’t come close to matching the intensity.
Within that struggling communication, Brooks emphasized that they need to recognize different personnel better as teams, especially those as deep as the Nuggets, mix and match their rotations throughout any given game.
Besides free throws, points in the paint has also been a thorn in the Suns’ side, as Denver and L.A. outscored them by 46 (114-68).
The rebounding disparity is actually favoring Phoenix through three games (+1) as well as shot attempts (+19), though its offensive efficiency is ranked in the bottom 10 teams with a 44% field goal percentage and 32% 3-point percentage.
Devin Booker has eclipsed the 30-point mark twice so far, being the elite, high volume scorer he is, but has committed 18 turnovers on a team that still lacks an appearance from offseason acquisition Jalen Green.
Booker owned up to his early turnover struggles but knows it will take time to iron it out completely with a very young group “still learning our spacing and just developing chemistry.”
“We had some defensive breakdowns in the first half to close the half out when they got on a run,” Booker said Saturday. “But they have chemistry, man, they’ve been at it for a while. … We’re still learning.”
NBA rookie Khaman Maluach got in the scoring column for the first time in his career with a dunk early into the second quarter against the Nuggets. That was the positive.
FIRST NBA BUCKET FOR MAN MAN ‼️ pic.twitter.com/kDTpItfZDm
— Phoenix Suns (@Suns) October 26, 2025
The negative was the 7-footer getting hit with four fouls and only coming down with two rebounds in 13 minutes on the floor.
“It’s just a process, keep building up day by day,” Maluach said of losing some ground defensively. “I just let it go. At that point, there’s nothing you can do about it. It’s just next play mentality.”
After one day off, the Suns (1-2) continue their road trip at the Utah Jazz (1-1) with tipoff at 6 p.m. on Monday. Listen to the game on 98.7 and the Arizona Sports app.