The Phoenix Suns have shown they’ve got something. They just have to channel it before they are down 20 in a ballgame, or to phrase it in a more relevant way to Monday’s 138-134 loss against the Utah Jazz, once they storm back.
Phoenix is 4-for-4 on falling into deep holes, this time a 19-2 beginning to a deficit as big as 20 in Utah against the Jazz on Monday. While the Suns roared back to tie the game before even halftime, unlike the previous three contests, it saw them return to that form like clockwork once they got back.
Defensive miscues, turnovers and a lack of serious rebounding intent while undersized let Utah easily stack up points in a half-dozen sectors of the game. Each time, the Suns clawed back, most prominently with an 18-2 run in the second quarter and a 16-2 spurt the following period that had them take their first lead that would get as big as five.
The trend persisted in the remaining quarter-plus, including Utah taking leads of eight at the end of the third quarter, 10 with 8:29 left, 11 with 3:09 left and seven with 24 seconds left. Each deficit featured the Suns cutting deeply into it, only for it to regenerate once more.
Back-to-back Devin Booker 3s got the Jazz’s lead down to 3 with 11 ticks left, and after a challenge on a trap for the recipient of an inbounds pass, the Suns forced a jump ball and won it. Booker then drew a shooting foul, but inside the 3-point line. He made the first free throw, and judging by the extra arc on the second, tried to miss it.
He did so beautifully, then Royce O’Neale got a paw on the ball for Mark Williams to find the game-tying tip at 1.9 seconds to go.
Overtime followed, and wouldn’t you know it, an instant five-point lead for the Jazz was answered by the Suns to retake it.
The margin extended to three points but the defensive issues that led to fouls persisted, with the Jazz securing four straight points at the foul line. One Williams free throw tied it, only for Utah’s Keyonte George to calmly get inside for a floater at 40 seconds left to retake the advantage. Collin Gillespie missed an open 3, and then another Jazz offensive rebound set up Lauri Markkanen to make two free tosses at 1.9 to go to put him at 51 points and end it.
Allowing yourself to believe you are capable of these great escapes coincides with inevitably relying on it to some extent. You can’t rely on being Steve McQueen. The fight shown in half of these games is a good character trait for a team to have. Eventually, though, the rest of Phoenix’s game on both ends has to get cleaned up.
As already mentioned in this space, the self-dug holes will happen against any team in the league if Phoenix keeps getting stuck in this haze, even versus a Jazz squad projected to win less than 20 games.
Utah ended up with 25 points off turnovers and 31 second-chance points, with the latter coming off 28 offensive rebounds. In terms of using cliches, that’s what they call the “controllables” on the Suns end, even though they did battle to stay in it.
Phoenix was without Jalen Green (right hamstring strain) for the fourth straight game, and Dillon Brooks (right groin soreness) missed his first contest of the year, putting the offense in extreme peril before the ball even went up. Those two are the secondary scoring options to Booker that the Suns are leaning on the most, especially Brooks, who has the aggression and confidence the Suns need (that of course is sometimes to their own detriment).
Phoenix actually found some great contributions, with great minutes from the likes of Gillespie, Williams and Nick Richards leading the way. Grayson Allen chipped in with 23 points, while O’Neale filled out the box score with 17 points, 13 rebounds, seven assists and five steals. Using those four statistics as qualifiers, O’Neale became only the fifth Sun to do that in a game, joining Shawn Marion (2003), Jason Kidd (1998), Jeff Hornacek (’91) and Ron Lee (1977), per Stathead.
Booker had himself a good offensive night, with 34 points (11-for-26), 11 assists and two turnovers. But he needs to start championing two-way effort or this team is going nowhere but the gutter of the conference. He was terrible on defense, consistently showing disengagement and a lack of high-end effort. We’ve seen it before and have a track record for what it looks like when it’s all there for him on that end. The Suns’ first defensive possession of the season featuring him getting back-cut off the ball has served as a nice microcosm thus far.
This was definitively Williams’ best game as a Sun, with 25 points (9-for-14), 11 rebounds and two steals in 31 minutes. He’s remained out of the starting lineup due to a minutes restriction but the total on Monday indicates some flexibility to that. It would be wise to start him going forward if that restriction has enough room for it now.
Richards added six points, 10 rebounds and three blocks in 15 minutes. Both guys, particularly Richards, are prone to some of the mistakes that were already addressed. If either could cut those out, the Suns would be getting great minutes out of their center rotation. Their performances put pressure on starter Oso Ighodaro, who has struggled the last two games to find the gaps he can contribute in after playing well defensively in the opening two games.
Gillespie set a career high with 12 assists and also contributed 15 points. He provided the direly needed ball-handling to work some two-man game with Williams.
The absence of Brooks granted an opportunity for head coach Jordan Ott to tweak his rotation a bit and he obliged with two-way signee Isaiah Livers playing over Nigel Hayes-Davis. Many, this blog boy included, would have liked to see athletic rookie Rasheer Fleming instead, especially with the size Utah used to its advantage all night.
As far as an update with Green, there is no official one, but Suns broadcaster Kevin Ray said Green was participating in 5-on-5 and looked close to making his debut. The 10-day timeline for an update is now three days expired with no inclinations coming from the Suns on when he could possibly come back.
Phoenix had no one capable of guarding Markkanen and it showed throughout, with his size offering an unsolvable dynamic for the Suns defense. He also grabbed five offensive rebounds, with former Sun Jusuf Nurkic snagging five of those too and Walker Kessler grabbed eight more. Kessler added 25 points with four blocks and George had 26 points and 10 assists.