Game Day: Suns (26-20) @ Heat (24-22), Mon 1/29/24

[Split T]

Go small and kill this zone with KD in the Nurkic spot

[djy2j]

KD as a facilitator in the 4th ain't it Frank. Get your head out.

[Wally_West]

Beal had a wide open midrange shot and basically almost airballs it.

He ain’t the only one missing open shots but at least his face is broken.

[djy2j]

Nurk single handedly trying toose this game and he does Frank a favor by fouling out

[The Bobster]

Heat Culture jerseys are so bad

"Heat Culture" doesn't mean much when they don't have a Wade, Shaq or James out there.

[djy2j]

The offensive strategy in the 4th has reduced this team to a mid-major conference college team. Just dumbfuckery all around.

[Split T]

Well here comes the 4th Q…I’ve decided to track every possession this Q and I’ll let you know. I’ll have 4 categories:

1. Great shot
2. Good shot
3. Poor shot
4. Bad shot/turnover

Didn’t count the final shot clock turnover, I got

1. 11 great shots
2. 6 good shots
3. 6 poor shots
4. 3 turnovers

The offense created good looks…we just missed a lot. Had like 7 or 8 corner 3s

[Gladiator]

They steadied a bit in the final minutes but jeez they didn’t do much to allay concerns about their fourth quarters.
Still happy to take a win in Miami, even with how much the heat have been struggling lately. And the spread of contributors in the first half was excellent.

[TOO]

I think I need another break from this team. I find no enjoyment in this.

[Scarecrow33]

Yeah, tough choice. Continue with sobriety or watch the Suns.

[LazarusLong]

Nice balance to the scoring ... not just the Big Three and a bunch of offensive dwarfs.

Off the bench, Gordon with 23 and Eubanks and Okogie with 11 each.

Good balance with rebounding: Nurk, Booker and Durant with 8 apiece and Okogie with 7.

[Split T]

That’s a bad halfcourt offensive rating…teams can defend us better when we slow it down. The fact we had a 125 OrTG for the game tells me we did this to ourselves by slowing down in the 4th

[Vladimir_Taltos]

I'll argue they need to shift opening the 4th with SOMEONE that can be a true PG for the first say 5 minutes of the quarter....steady them solidly into the quarter then revert to normal strategy...

[Split T]

I’d like to see them just not turn the game into a drain the clock game…just keep running

[Superbone]

I watched the game late so I took notes. Notice how long they get in the fourth quarter.

Suns played a great first quarter. Played well defensively and got defensive rebounds. Nurk went out early and Eubanks really produced with 11 points and 5 boards in the 1st. I noticed that they played defense cleanly. Unlike the Magic the other night where they had their hand all over everybody. I guess you can go as far as the refs let you. Oh, and NO turnovers!

Great start to the second quarter. Nurk redeeming himself. The Suns are serious about clamping down tonight. Can they do it for four quarters? Miami defense starting to get a lot stickier. Booker has been quiet but suddenly explodes for a smooth jumper and then a 3 for Suns biggest lead of 15. Allen going to the locker room. Not sure why. Gordon throw a horrible cross court pass that gets picked off and turned into two points at the other end. Stupid offensive foul on Gordon and then he gets it back at the other end. Dang, Book lay in pops out at the buzzer. Up 13.

Right ankle injury for Allen? Ugh. Wow, Beal nails a three as the shot clock expires to go up 20! Wow, Book 3 and should have been a foul. And of course the call it on the Suns on the other end on Butler’s drive. Beal explosion to the hoop! LOL! Okogie with the fake and then the double pump banked 3 at the shot clock buzzer. Everything going right! Wow, Gordon on fire now with two threes in a row for a 93-68 lead with 2:28 remaining in the 3rd. Book nails the 2 from the side with Martin draped all over him. Eubanks not wanting to ruin his perfect three point shooting percentage shoots it after the shot clock expires. Suns up 100-74 at the end of the third.

OK, fourth quarter, here we go. Can we actually keep a lead for once? At least win by 15? Here we go 0-4 to start and two threes for Miami and then a stolen ball for another score. 100-82 two minutes into the fourth. SMH. Book back in after the time out. Another miss from KD in the corner. Hero for 3. 100-85. 11-0 start of the fourth for Miami. What is wrong with this team? Finally! KD for three from the same corner. Then unimpeded Bam dunk. Thank you Nurk for getting an extra possession and a jumper from Book. Don’t like how Suns are just passing around the top of the three point line. Slowing down the game again and it still doesn’t work for them. When will they ever learn? Why is Miami allowed to do this?! Defender has his hands all over Booker as he deflects the ball out and runs over the ref. Thank you Okogie on the stick back. 13 point game with 4:41 to play. How can this team be SO bad in the fourth SO consistently? Beal 11 inches short on the jumper. This team becomes so tentative in the 4th. Suns waste a lot of clock, miss the shot, and the Heat instantly run the floor and get fouled. How about just A LITTLE sense of urgency Suns?! Thank you Nurk. A rare inside shot. Beal finally hits a three. Nurk is a walking offensive foul. Literally. Great Suns, just give them wide open threes so they have a chance. Brilliant strategy. 115-105 with 1:33 remaining. We complain about the Suns not shooting threes but why do they have to exclusively shoot threes in the fourth? Another three but Gordon hits it. OK, we finally have it. It can never be easy for us, can it? Weird ending. Both teams let the full 24 second clock run out. And Suns had to do it a final time. 118-105.

[Superbone]

Let's see if the Suns just start trying milk the clock and try not to lose instead of just keep playing hard.

So predictable, eh?

[Superbone]

Eric Gordon has perpetual asshole face. He looks like an asshole pug.

He only has nice things to say about you!

I think it was the Houston game where the broadcasters said his nickname is Gollum.

[TOO]

Let's see if the Suns just start trying milk the clock and try not to lose instead of just keep playing hard.

So predictable, eh?

Coach can't coach.

[Flagrant Fowl]

A lot of PTSD in these comments. As Split noted, the issue in the 4th quarter was missing good shots. The Suns problems have been turnovers and effort in the 4th, but both were completely fine in this game. The Heat were outright terrible for most of the night. 39% shooting on 20 assists is abysmal in today's NBA and especially against a team that's not known for defending well.

Okogie played really well in his minutes and did everything the Suns missed down the stretch against the Magic. I'm glad Vogel seemed to recognize the need for his effort plays.

The Suns controlled the entire game and took care of business on the second night of a back to back.

[Flagrant Fowl]

I don’t get why we haven’t adjusted to let Book start 4th quarters yet. Seems like an easy adjustment for these 4th quarter struggles.

I think it's more realistic to wonder why Beal and KD can't manage the offense to start the 4th. They shouldn't require Booker to be on the floor to be competent.