The first game of the “new look” Suns, with Bradley Beal coming off the bench, had given a glimpse of real reasons for hope, with convincing success in Philadelphia. Twenty-four hours later, almost everything is back in Phoenix. The Arizona franchise collapsed on the floor of the Hornets, who had won only one of their last 19 games. This back-to-back setback brings the Suns back to their doubts and questions, which the change in rotation has clearly not resolved.
At press conferences or in the locker room, the faces were closed, sullen. Almost everything was decided in the second quarter alone, won 37-17 by Charlotte against visitors who were too passive, even though they had gotten off to a good start. Back up to par thanks to the talent of the Devin Booker – Kevin Durant duo, Phoenix gave up again in the fourth quarter, letting the Hornets have fun in transition.
« We have no right to do that » the scarred Bradley Beal repeated several times to AZ Central reporter Duane Rankin. “ This one hurts. We have clearly taken a step backwards. »
Beaten despite the Hornets shooting 38.8%…
« You can’t do this » hammered Devin Booker, disappointed despite his good individual performance (39 points and 10 assists) at AZ Central. “ The atmosphere and communication are good when everything is going well, and when things are tough, we fall back. They made difficult shots. They are young, they play with a lot of energy. It’s a bit of the opposite of what we showed. These kinds of streaks can happen but the sooner you get out of them, the better. I’m not trying to point the finger at so-and-so. We just have to move on to the next game and play better. The energy and effort must be there, regardless of the score. »
Despite a very random address at only 38.8% including an ugly 13/47 at 3-points, the locals were able to dictate their law by remaining within their standards, with 26 points on the counter-attack (22 in the second and fourth quarters ) and an overwhelming domination on the rebound: 59 shots including 20 offensives against 42 for the Suns…
« We need to defend better in quick play » confirmed Tyus Jones. “ It was something we talked about before the game. We showed sequences at the start of the match where we were focused on that. But it’s a team that will continue until the end to accelerate the tempo, send the ball quickly in front, take risks offensively with its guards to go for the offensive rebound, that kind of thing… We can’t just do the job in the first quarter and expect them to change the way they play. »
Rotations still under construction
The new hierarchy inside did not work for long. Mike Budenholzer alternated without more success between Mason Plumlee (no points but still 12 rebounds in 20 minutes) and Jusuf Nurkic (8 points, 3 rebounds in 19 minutes) to try to stem the domination of the Hornets in the paint. And the rookie Oso Ighodaro, although convincing the day before in the good passages of his team, was only allowed six minutes. “ I try every night to figure out who our best group is » still gropes the technician from Phoenix.
« I think everyone is wondering what’s going on admits Tyus Jones, a little awkwardly. “ What’s the problem? Why are we not able to play at the level that we all thought we were capable of reaching and that we showed in the first part of the season? It’s been a complicated time these last few weeks. »
Phoenix has won only 8 of its last 26 meetings, a record that injuries alone cannot explain. And the Suns are in a worrying 12th place in the West, two victories from the Spurs and the Warriors, ninth and tenth, and four from the Lakers, sixth. It’s up to them to pull themselves together before mid-season, while the schedule for the next few days looks slightly more favorable (receptions of the Hawks, Jazz, Hornets then road trip to the East to Atlanta, Washington, Detroit, Cleveland and Brooklyn).
| Shots | Rebounds | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Players | MJ | Min | Shots | 3pts | LF | Off | Def | To | Pd | Bp | Int | Ct | Fte | Pts |
| Kevin Durant | 25 | 36.0 | 51.7 | 40.8 | 84.2 | 0.5 | 6.0 | 6.5 | 3.9 | 3.3 | 0.7 | 1.3 | 1.7 | 27.4 |
| Devin Booker | 30 | 36.5 | 42.9 | 33.6 | 89.3 | 1.1 | 2.8 | 3.9 | 6.8 | 2.3 | 1.1 | 0.3 | 2.2 | 24.6 |
| Bradley Beal | 25 | 33.1 | 48.5 | 39.1 | 76.9 | 0.7 | 2.8 | 3.5 | 3.2 | 2.0 | 1.1 | 0.7 | 2.6 | 17.8 |
| Tyus Jones | 34 | 30.7 | 48.5 | 42.3 | 85.7 | 0.6 | 2.0 | 2.6 | 6.1 | 1.3 | 1.0 | 0.1 | 1.1 | 12.1 |
| Royce O’neale | 31 | 26.3 | 44.7 | 44.1 | 76.2 | 1.0 | 4.6 | 5.6 | 2.4 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 0.6 | 2.3 | 10.5 |
| Grayson Allen | 26 | 23.9 | 41.4 | 38.8 | 82.7 | 0.7 | 2.5 | 3.2 | 1.8 | 1.0 | 0.8 | 0.3 | 1.5 | 10.3 |
| Jusuf Nurkic | 25 | 23.7 | 45.4 | 32.2 | 69.6 | 1.8 | 7.3 | 9.2 | 1.9 | 2.3 | 0.9 | 0.6 | 3.1 | 8.6 |
| Ryan Dunn | 31 | 19.6 | 43.8 | 30.2 | 50.0 | 0.8 | 2.2 | 3.0 | 0.9 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 0.7 | 2.3 | 6.8 |
| Josh Okogie | 23 | 14.7 | 48.6 | 38.1 | 66.7 | 1.3 | 1.7 | 3.0 | 0.6 | 0.7 | 0.9 | 0.4 | 1.2 | 6.3 |
| Monte Morris | 30 | 14.2 | 42.0 | 30.6 | 85.0 | 0.3 | 1.3 | 1.6 | 1.7 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 0.1 | 0.6 | 5.6 |
| Mason Plumlee | 34 | 17.5 | 57.8 | 0.0 | 61.4 | 1.5 | 4.9 | 6.4 | 1.8 | 0.8 | 0.4 | 0.8 | 2.1 | 4.1 |
| Very Ighodaro | 28 | 15.7 | 57.8 | 0.0 | 57.9 | 1.0 | 2.7 | 3.7 | 1.0 | 0.6 | 0.4 | 0.3 | 1.7 | 3.8 |
| Bol Bol | 8 | 6.2 | 57.9 | 25.0 | 66.7 | 0.5 | 1.0 | 1.5 | 0.1 | 0.4 | 0.0 | 0.3 | 0.1 | 3.5 |
| Collin Gillespie | 1 | 3.5 | 50.0 | 100.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 3.0 |
| Damion Lee | 8 | 6.0 | 23.8 | 8.3 | 100.0 | 0.1 | 0.6 | 0.8 | 0.6 | 0.4 | 0.3 | 0.0 | 0.3 | 2.4 |
| Tyty Washington, Jr. | 4 | 6.9 | 50.0 | 66.7 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 1.0 | 0.3 | 0.5 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 2.0 |
| Jalen Bridges | 4 | 4.2 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 50.0 | 0.0 | 0.8 | 0.8 | 0.0 | 0.5 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.3 |
