The Phoenix Suns have themselves quite the Villain. It was the Dillon Brooks show tonight in the Valley.
They are 29-19 and improve to 16-6 at home, and have taken down the top team in each conference now on their home floor, this time without Devin Booker. It was a tough, physical game against a hard-nosed Pistons squad that went on a furious third-quarter run to make it a game, but the Suns prevailed.
Dillon Brooks poured in a career-high 40 points on just 22 shots on his “Dillon the Villain” t-shirt night. Collin Gillespie video-bombed the postgame interview of Brooks to say, “We have two All-Stars on this team. Get your phones out and vote.”
Grayson Allen had 24 points and went a perfect 10 of 10 from the charity stripe. Collin Gillespie had 16 points and 5 rebounds on 5-11 shooting from three.
First Half
It was all Dillon Brooks early, as he poured in the Suns’ first 7 points of the game.
Collin Gillespie followed that up with a triple on his first shot attempt of the game to make it an early 10-9 Suns lead. It was raining threes early, with Gillespie knocking down a pair, followed by a Grasyon Allen snipe, leading to a Pistons timeout with Phoenix leading 18-13.
It was an uptempo start, with both teams pushing the pace early and often. Phoenix had a tough time containing Jalen Duren early, as he scored 10 points in the opening 7 minutes of action.
The fast-paced, physical quarter came to an end with Phoenix leading 35-31. Grayson Allen led the Suns with 12 points, and Dillon Brooks chipped in 9.
The Suns were winning all of the hustle plays early, and it didn’t hurt that the threes were falling. Phoenix pushed their lead to thirteen — 46-33 — with 9:23 left in the quarter, leading a Pistons timeout.
Dillon Brooks started to take over offensively and made sure to let everyone know about it afterward in true Dillon Brooks fashion.
The Suns continued to feed him as he got his total up to 24 points after a pair of free throws to push the Suns’ lead to 19.
Phoenix took a 72-56 lead into the half, backed by 24 first-half points from Dillon Brooks. Grayson Allen had 16, and Collin Gillespie had 10. The Suns shot 9 of 19 (47%) from deep, a sight for sore eyes after their recent shooting slump.
Second Half
The Pistons responded with a punch of their own early in the third, cutting the Suns lead down to 8 early in the third quarter after a Tobias Harris three.
A Cade Cunningham transition slam to make it a 77-70 ballgame led to a Jordan Ott timeout. The Pistons were on a furious 20-5 run over the opening five minutes. It’s safe to say the Pistons woke up after the Suns had their number in the first half.
Grayson Allen drilled a much-needed three off a Dillon Brooks offensive rebound and kickout to give the Suns a cushion. Phoenix started to answer back with another run of their own to push it back to a 10-point advantage.
Dillon Brooks continued his masterclass, drilling another triple to extend the Suns’ lead to 14, 91-77. He was knocking everything down, getting to the line, and chirping at the Pistons bench and anyone who would listen as he cooked multiple defenders.
Phoenix led 93-81 after three. Brooks had a career-high 38 points after the third to lead the Suns.
A pair of lazy turnovers to open the 4th quarter, followed up by a Collin Gillespie triple. The Pistons pushed the Suns back, but the Suns answered. It was another physical, scrappy contest, just as we saw in the first meeting between these teams in Detroit.
The Suns continued to pour it on and hit some daggers by Royce O’Neale and Collin Gillespie to put the finishing touches on a great night.
We are now 10 games above .500, folks!
Right back at it tomorrow against the Cavs. Same time, same place.