Phx-Suns.Net

Phoenix Suns #10 Previous Rank: 4
Net Rating: +2.2

No one could've expected a 2-3 start out of these Phoenix Suns. While it's easy to chalk the underwhelming record up to Bradley Beal missing all five games and Devin Booker missing three, back-to-back losses to the San Antonio Spurs have to be at least mildly concerning. In the first of those two games, Phoenix led for all but the last two possessions and had a win probability that peaked at 98.5 percent in the second half. Everything could ultimately be fine whenever Beal, Booker and Durant are all available, but we're already getting a glimpse of what the Suns might look like without great health. That version of this team may not be as close to title contention as we thought..

#12 PHOENIX SUNS
Last Week:3↓
Record: 3-4

OffRtg: 111.4 (13) DefRtg: 109.6 (10) NetRtg: +1.7 (10) Pace: 100.6 (16)

Devin Booker came back from a three-game absence and put up 31 points, nine rebounds and 13 assists against the Spurs on Thursday. But his return was short-lived and Booker missed both games of the Suns’ weekend back-to-back. Bradley Beal still hasn’t played, so the Suns have been without two of their three stars in five of their seven games.

Three takeaways

The Suns lost both of their home games to San Antonio, despite shooting better than 50% from the field both nights. Over the two games, they committed 13 more turnovers and grabbed six fewer offensive rebounds than the Spurs. The first game was lost when Durant failed to box out Victor Wembanyama and subsequently got stripped by Keldon Johnson.

With those two losses to the Spurs, the Suns are 1-3 in clutch games, having scored just 31 points (with seven turnovers and just one free throw attempt) on 36 clutch possessions.

The Suns have seen a jump in overall 3-point rate (from 36.2% to 38.1%), even though Durant has taken only 11.1% of his shots from beyond the arc. That’s his lowest rate since his second season in the league and down from 34.4% last season.
You can never have enough shooting around the stars, but Eric Gordon (36.4%) and Grayson Allen (48.5%) are the only members of the supporting cast who’ve shot the league average (35.5%) or better on at least 10 3-point attempts. Josh Okogie (four made 3s in 156 minutes) got bumped from the starting lineup in favor of Keita Bates-Diop over the weekend.

Starting Monday, the Suns are playing just three games over nine days, a helpful stretch in regard to Booker’s ankle issue.

Week 3: @ CHI, vs. LAL*, vs. OKC

Wally_West wrote: ↑

Mon Nov 06, 2023 10:26 am

djy2j wrote: ↑

Mon Nov 06, 2023 11:19 am

Wally_West wrote: ↑

Mon Nov 06, 2023 10:26 am

Yeah, I don't know. I'll believe it when I see it. Starting to get a little nervous with how these injuries popped up. Especially with how Booker's injury seems to be magically spreading up his leg like a plague virus.

TOO wrote: ↑

Mon Nov 06, 2023 5:17 pm

Jeremy gonna be rock hard seeing Al and all the older old heads in the video.

TOO wrote: ↑

Mon Nov 06, 2023 5:17 pm

Jeremy gonna be rock hard seeing Al and all the older old heads in the video.

Kryptonic wrote: ↑

Mon Nov 06, 2023 5:11 pm

Don't think i've ever seen all the players collected together like that in the franchises history... to be fair, it probably would have happened with Jerry. Just shows how much distaste former players had for Sarver.

Superbone wrote: ↑

Mon Nov 06, 2023 8:11 pm

Weird that Sarver wasn’t there.