Game Day: Suns (21-14) @ Rockets (21-11), Mon 1/5/25

[Superbone]

Regardless…. It’s still a morale victory given it’s the second game on a brutal back to back and the delayed flight. Way to take it to the wire.

Still very disappointing. Suns were seemingly in control for 3.5 quarters in spite of getting there day of and the ridiculous constant clock malfunctions.

[Superbone]

Booker giveth, and Booker taketh away.

Ha! I hadn't seen your post yet when posting the same damn thing!

[Superbone]

Allen getting Bouyea's minutes were the biggest detriment tonight.

Bouyea out with a concussion apparently.

[djy2j]

Tough one tonight. Would have liked to see more out of Dillon and Williams. Also be nice not to have to play the rockets on the second night of a back to back. Get rid back to backs

[Wally_West]

Ooof

[Wally_West]

[Superbone]

I'm sure it does hurt him to see all the success we've had since we moved on from him.

[Kryptonic]

Proof he's still a bitch all up in his feelings. He's right up there with Cheap Shot Bob as all time hated Suns. No class, narcissistic bitch.

[ShelC]

Good game all things considered with the travel and clock nonsense. I thought we did a good job playing fast and taking it to them most of the game. Kind of a reverse scenario from the Thunder game tho - we built up a decent lead in the 3rd but couldn't put them away. I thought the team collectively hit the wall in the middle of the 3rd where there were just some bad offensive possessions and quick shots that let the Rockets cut the lead down. Then in the 4th we just couldn't contain a guy like Amen and Jabari hit a few big shots.

Disappointed Williams wasn't more effective. They only grabbed 4 more ORs than us but it felt like much more. That's not all his fault obviosly but if he has trouble with bigger, stronger players like Adams and can't guard on the perimeter (Chet, Wemby) then he's more matchup dependent than we'd probably like him to be. And if that's the case, what's his value come contract time? Oso was -3 but had another good showing with 9 and 8 (and 5 ORs) and much more activity in the lane.

Kind of an odd line from Book with 27 pts but no boards and only 3 assists with 4 TOs. Brooks was quiet in the 1st half but came on a bit more in the 2nd. He's seems a bit more subdued lately so I wonder if he's maybe tired right now. His usage is as high as its been in 4 years.

Rough night from Allen 0-6 but he was rusty with his first game back. He looked fresh tho otherwise and once he's back in rhythm he'll be a big help in spreading the floor. I thought we missed Bouyea's steady hand running things at times. Maybe he would've been overmatched by the Rockets size and length but it seemed like we could've used him in that 3rd qtr. Also thought CG should've been out there late in the game as another ballhandler/shooter.

We've shown we can pretty much hang with any team in the league at this point. Still could use another bigger body, Fleming got some minutes but he's a bit frantic when he's out there. We're holding our own against the West contenders tho.

Also, KD is still a hoe. Fk that guy.

[ShelC]

Postgame Quotes and Videos

Spoiler: show/hide

[Mori Chu]

KD is a whiny little bitch. He got this one, but I think we showed that we can hang with them. Second night of a B2B and we play them that tight, that's impressive even though we didn't pull it out. If you told me ahead of time that we would split this OKC-HOU b2b and be super close in the other game, I would happily take it.

[specialsauce]

Proof he's still a bitch all up in his feelings. He's right up there with Cheap Shot Bob as all time hated Suns. No class, narcissistic bitch.

Agree he a Ho

[TOO]

KD is so mad that nobody likes him, he and Ayton have some similarities in that.

[ShelC]

He knows the criticisms about him are true and it bothers him to no end.

[O_Gardino]

This one hurt, friends. I'm proud of the team for playing so well, and then it's just heartbreaking to miss the last 4 or 5 shots or whatever it was. There's really nobody to be mad at for this one except OGW.

[Kryptonic]

KD is so mad that nobody likes him, he and Ayton have some similarities in that.

Suns fans live rent free in their heads

[MightyMoog]

Not mad about it. But this one is on the coaching staff. Blew our challenge on a long shot low reward opportunity. Best case was we’d get a foul on KD. Someone who’s never in foul trouble. We weren’t getting the ball or free throws if we won tbe challenge. In hindsight the challenge could have netted us a couple of extra possessions at the end.

It’s the second challenge this season that has cost us a game. First one being during the Laker game.

The coaching staff needs to be smarter in this area.

[Mori Chu]

KD spends too much time on Twitter reading and listening to everything people say about him. Sounds like a bitter ex complaining about how his last gf didn't appreciate him. IMO Lebron handles his public media persona much better; sometimes chirps on social media but clearly isn't doom scrolling 24/7 and replying to random nobodies.

[Superbone]

He knows the criticisms about him are true and it bothers him to no end.

There's no doubt we got better without him. It's got to sting. One game winner isn't going to make it go away.

[Superbone]

Not mad about it. But this one is on the coaching staff. Blew our challenge on a long shot low reward opportunity. Best case was we’d get a foul on KD. Someone who’s never in foul trouble. We weren’t getting the ball or free throws if we won tbe challenge. In hindsight the challenge could have netted us a couple of extra possessions at the end.

It’s the second challenge this season that has cost us a game. First one being during the Laker game.

The coaching staff needs to be smarter in this area.

I think they usually are pretty good in this area but this one was definitely an outlier and big mistake.