No Booker. No Green. No defense. No chance.
That was the basic plot of the Phoenix Suns’ 136-109 loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder at Mortgage Matchup Center on Wednesday.
Devin Booker and Jalen Green, who both played the night before in the win over Dallas, couldn’t go in the second game of the back-to-back. And the Suns who did take the court didn’t exactly offer much resistance on the defensive end to the defending champs.
Through three quarters, the Thunder shot 65.6% from the floor, basically doing whatever they wanted, even without reigning league MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, who didn’t play because of an abdominal strain.
Less on the game, more on the Suns at the break. They’re 32-23 and in seventh in the Western Conference. They’re 2-4 in February and 4-5 in a pivotal stretch of 16 out of 19 games being at home. Analytics indicate there’s been a big drop-off in offensive and defensive efficiency — and rebounding.
Throw all that out. For the Suns to be a top-six seed in the Western Conference, one factor supersedes all the others. Health.
Through 55 games, the Suns have had full rotational health in a small handful of contests. Jalen Green’s epic struggle with hamstring injury recovery has been a season-long storyline, as has the on-again/off-again health of Grayson Allen.
With all the deficiencies the Phoenix roster has from a construction standpoint, availability truly becomes the best ability post-All-Star break. Without it, the Suns’ season will likely devolve into a nice story about a team that was just good enough to qualify for the play-in.