It is a familiar script most Phoenix Suns games now follow, one we saw on Sunday in a 107-96 loss to the Los Angeles Lakers.
Phoenix fell behind quickly and trailed by as many as 20 points in a first half that was all of its problems coming to the forefront for a national audience. The Suns were terrible on defense and showed no structure on offense, a completely disjointed afternoon.
The ABC broadcast had Luka Doncic mic’d up and he said on the bench he has “never been open so much in my life.” That summed it up.
This was the type of performance from Kevin Durant that has been massively disappointing to watch this year. As a disclaimer for those already springing to defend him, that statement is not meant to put this loss on him or turn him into the scapegoat for this year. It’s just beyond time to focus on where he’s been lacking instead of occasional mentions here and there.
Durant’s off-ball defense has been rough for the last few months. In the first quarter, Jordan Goodwin glided by him ball-watching on a rebound to put back an airball.
Later in the period, the Lakers walked the ball up off a miss and both Durant and Royce O’Neale were gravitating toward Jarred Vanderbilt on the right wing. Durant was closest to Doncic but failed to realize that O’Neale was already on Vanderbilt, so Doncic wandered to the left wing for a wide-open 3 with no one within 15 feet of him. Even if this was an instance of O’Neale not communicating, Durant didn’t even bother to close out from the paint.
His transition defense in particular has been woeful, consistently jogging back on some possessions that he wouldn’t impact but also on others when he could. That’s a similar concept for Durant’s lack of meaningful closeouts on shooters. Head coach Mike Budenholzer confirmed on Friday that he begins both practices and film sessions with transition defense, noting how it’s an underrated part of the sport and how teams cannot be good unless they are good at getting back.
Durant is not the only guy dogging it in these areas. Bradley Beal on a handful of possessions Sunday did nothing more than lightly touching Lakers big Jaxson Hayes with his hands as the helper when forceful contact was the only answer to doing his job defensively. Devin Booker needs to start acting like he has a Team USA jersey on instead of a Suns one to relocate his defensive form we know he is capable of, showing a tendency to float once a possession is falling apart instead of flying around to try and salvage it.
But, Durant’s bad habits have been the most glaring and it holds more weight when the team’s best player is the one not showing a desire to put in the effort of having a constant message from the coaching staff reflected on the court. It is incredibly simple and clear what the Suns need to do better. Durant’s play has suggested he’s not interested enough in changing that, or at this age on this workload can’t handle complete efforts in a full basketball game anymore. Whatever it is, it’s a shame, because he’s a criminally underrated defender and a few weeks into the year was a guy you were ready to make an All-Defense case for.
Durant, as he did in the win of the year over the Los Angeles Clippers and a few handful of other times this season, attempted to make up for this later in the game by sparking a comeback. He scored 15 of his 21 points in the third quarter to cut the Lakers’ lead to 12 going into the final frame.
This could have been another late surge for the Suns to turn what looked like an impending blowout into a tight finish if they could have hit some 3s but they finished 9-for-41 (22%). That prevented the game from getting eventful late, with the closest moment coming with the Suns getting within eight at under two minutes remaining before a Lakers 3 squashed that.
Booker had an awful day, shooting 6-of-17 for 19 points to go with 11 assists and three turnovers. His efficiency was in a brutal spot until the closing stages of the game.
Phoenix got back Nick Richards from a two-game absence due to a right ankle sprain, putting the rotations in a difficult spot to get everyone run. Mason Plumlee has been one of the Suns’ best supporting cast pieces over the last month, while rookie Oso Ighodaro was a big part of Friday’s win with his energy and activity on both ends. Playing three bigs in smaller spurts seemed like the best approach and that is indeed what it was. Ighodaro got the most of the run with 22 minutes, followed by 19 for Richards and six out of Plumlee.
Beal did not return for the second half due to left hamstring tightness. The consistency of him coming down with smaller, nagging injuries has completely derailed his season. For as much as he was identified as a guy who struggled staying healthy prior to his arrival with the Suns, it was never anywhere close to this level. If Phoenix is planning on attaching assets to try and trade him this offseason, it is becoming even more challenging now.
Collin Gillespie was once again a part of the rotation and started the second half in place of Beal. The wish for prioritizing effort over pedigree was there a few weeks ago but Budenholzer has at least arrived at that needed adjustment. Cody Martin also made his Suns debut and got some meaningful run in the fourth quarter, as did Gillespie and Ryan Dunn.
The Lakers, who had lost four straight coming into Sunday, were without LeBron James (left groin strain), Rui Hachimura (left patellar tendinopathy) and Maxi Kleber (right foot surgery). L.A. had been decimated injuries this past week, a spurt that included nearly every rotation player missing at least one game outside of Austin Reaves, Dalton Knecht, Jarred Vanderbilt and Goodwin.
Doncic’s motivation for hurting the Suns persisted with 33 points, 11 rebounds, eight assists and four turnovers. The ABC broadcast showed a stat that his 29.8 points per game against Phoenix in the regular season and playoffs is the second highest ever, only trailing Michael Jordan’s 34.1.
Reaves added 28 points and Hayes benefitted from Phoenix’s lack of structure defensively with 19 points.