Game Day: Suns (26-19) @ Magic (23-22), Sun 1/28/24

[Flagrant Fowl]

I watched a replay of the second half and I'm not as annoyed as I thought I'd be. I suppose knowing what's coming helps with that. There was a clear decline in effort once the Magic took a 10 point lead with about 3:40 left. I'm glad Vogel pulled everyone early because I'm sure he saw it too. Anyway..

Mo Wagner completely flipped the game for the Magic. He abused Eubanks the entire half and was getting plenty of extra motivation from the Suns bench (Nurkic, I'm guessing). The Suns were still in it at that point, but the Magic benefited from his energy to counter Booker's scoring.

KD was out to lunch. I don't know what was going on with him in this game and Isaac was all over him in the second half. He was going back and forth with some Nets fans on Twitter about a tribute video or something less than an hour before tipoff. Just a really weird showing from him. I'm expecting a pretty big number from him soon.

It was obvious Beal couldn't see shit for most of the game with that mask on and it really affected his ball handling in addition to shooting. Not much can be done about that and I don't think the Suns would've been better off if he sat. Bad luck.

The turnovers were really dumb again, but the Suns were killed on the defensive side with Eubanks getting cooked by Wagner and not having enough size in the paint. They were so focused on getting the Magic to take a jumpshot instead of a layup that they didn't have enough in them to get the rebound. I think Okogie probably would've been a better option than Beal in the 4th if only for that reason.

I don't get the Booker hate for this game. He was the only guy who had it going even if he forced some shots to try to keep the Suns in the game. The Suns just got bullied and clearly need some better Nurkic insurance and/or their other two stars to play like stars.

[ShelC]

Postgame Quotes and videos

Spoiler: show/hide

[AmareIsGod]

I punished myself and watched most of the game after the fact. I was only following the box score during the game because of family time. It was looking like, on paper, maybe Booker was dominating the ball and others weren't getting involved. In reality, he was the only one that brought it. KD needed to be more aggressive and his turnovers were lazy and atrocious. His defense was pretty lacking and he seemed to get frustrated many times by Orlando, the officials, the athleticism any physicality. Beal has the excuse of wearing that God awful mask and having a broken nose.

[Mori Chu]

He can’t play with a sprained thumb? Are you kidding me? Of course nobody wants to talk about it lol.

We all know that the ONLY valid reason for missing a game is when there's a bit of scary snow on your driveway and you're afraid of slipping and getting a boo-boo.

[Mori Chu]

The team has been too focused on getting Booker his at the expense of our other stars and role players finding a rhythm. I don't know if they're trying to get him into the All Star game but it's detracting from the team and the improvement we showed during the winning streak. Not a fan of these two games at all.

Yes, I agree with this. It feels like the team met after the All-Star votes and starters were announced and said, "This is BS that Booker is so low in the voting! We need to feature him more so he makes the All-Star team." So now KD and others are deferring and feeding Book and he's going off for 40+ every game. Which is fun to watch, but the dynamics of the offense feel "off" to me in the past 3 games or so. I wish they'd just play naturally and forget about the All-Star stuff.

[Split T]

I really don’t see that at all…it’s more like Book stepping up because no one else will. Book has also just been on an absolute heater…he’s averaging 50.7 ppg and shooting 65% from the field over his last 3. He’s not the issue. I haven’t seen Beal make a shot since he broke his nose(he missed every shot after the break vs Indy and I turned the game on yesterday after his 3/3 start. He finished 4-13. I don’t remember the 4th shot, but he even missed every free throw.).

KD just looked checked out yesterday…his body language was off. Not sure why. Kinda reminded me of a certain former suns player every other game. Eubanks was really bad. He is not a good defender and he’s an awful rebounder. They killed us with him in. I agree with FF, we really need a new backup 5.

I’m not sure what’s going on with Grayson. Are teams just not leaving him anymore? He’s barely shooting these last few. He’s shooting 50% from 3, we should absolutely be getting him 7-8 attempts at the minimum. Gordon was ok yesterday, just had a few patented awful passes.

I still don’t think we need a pg when fully healthy, but yesterday when Beal couldn’t see, it probably would’ve been a time to throw Goodwin in there when Booker sat. We had a real problem taking care of the ball(especially in the 4th when Booker was out).

Anyways, we need a lot. I do think this team needs to trade for Miles Bridges if they want to win…should they is another question, but we aren’t winning a title if we have to rely on guys like KBD, Eubanks, and Okogie in the playoffs. I don’t see how we replace those 3 with the poor assets we have…let’s see what James Jones can pull off.

[Scarecrow33]

Hi folks. Used to post here as Whizzinator years ago. Don't have the email address anymore so had to create new account.

With all the personnel and analytical tools available to coaches, I don't understand how these 4thqtr collapses keep happening.

There are reasons this keeps happening the at the same time by the same people failing the same way. "Experts" should be able to watch the tapes, analyze the stats, and change the approach in the 4th qtr. Something changes between the 3rd and 4th qtrs.

It seems like some kind of emotional malaise hits some of the guys and they forget everything they knew about how to win a basketball game. Need a more scientific explanation.

[Mori Chu]

Hi folks. Used to post here as Whizzinator years ago. Don't have the email address anymore so had to create new account.

With all the personnel and analytical tools available to coaches, I don't understand how these 4thqtr collapses keep happening.

There are reasons this keeps happening the at the same time by the same people failing the same way. "Experts" should be able to watch the tapes, analyze the stats, and change the approach in the 4th qtr. Something changes between the 3rd and 4th qtrs.

It seems like some kind of emotional malaise hits some of the guys and they forget everything they knew about how to win a basketball game. Need a more scientific explanation.

Welcome, Whizz/Scarecrow! Good to have you.

[bajanguy008]

The kinda turnovers from NBA players is head scratching
Missing jumpers is part of the game

However
What bothered me against Pacers and then again last night
Physicality and getting Out hustled just can't be a constant and we know how teams try to get into KD's body to make him uncomfortable
Book whistle as mentioned by everyone is laughable
Would hope refs start paying attention to these things but control what you can control and too many 50/50 balls / rebounds we are not securing

[Split T]

I do think the games are a little fluky. Beal was pretty useless and we count on him to run the offense when Booker sits. Both Orlando and Indy play aggressive defensively and the refs let them. We are going to be a high turnover team, it’s just hard when they happen in bunches in key moments. I do think we win both of those games if Beal doesn’t break his nose.

[JeremyG]

Also not a coincidence that it happened right after his boys best two games of the season. This is the kind of stuff that makes people question your fandom Jeremy. Almost like you’re rooting for it to happen.

Rooting for what, Nurk’s absence to be felt in a significant way? How does that even make sense?

I think it’s obnoxious that our starting center misses a game for a sprained thumb.

And yeah I’m definitely responsible for the timing of his injury.

Don’t do that, you know exactly what you’re doing. He’s missed 1 game all year to injury. It was a garbage post and you’re better than that

That’s completely irrelevant. And he’s not exactly known as an ironman anyway.

Looks pretty sus when you don't call out Ayton for pussing out of a game 6 elimination game vs 1 regular season game against an almost . 500 team. How many ice storms kept Nurkic out in the several seasons he played in Portland? Stop trolling.

The whole point was to call out the hypocrisy and the lack of criticism for Nurkic. Yes he’s only missed one game due to injury this season. And Ayton’s missed only one playoff game in his career. I discussed the elimination game at the time and the fact that I had dealt with bruised ribs myself.

Severe rib pain and trouble breathing = “Get out there and run up and down the court you soft wimp!”

Sprained thumb on non-shooting hand = “No player could ever play through that!” (an injury that many players wrap up and play through—Embiid even played with a torn thumb ligament)

[specialsauce]

Rooting for what, Nurk’s absence to be felt in a significant way? How does that even make sense?

I think it’s obnoxious that our starting center misses a game for a sprained thumb.

And yeah I’m definitely responsible for the timing of his injury.

Don’t do that, you know exactly what you’re doing. He’s missed 1 game all year to injury. It was a garbage post and you’re better than that

That’s completely irrelevant. And he’s not exactly known as an ironman anyway.

Looks pretty sus when you don't call out Ayton for pussing out of a game 6 elimination game vs 1 regular season game against an almost . 500 team. How many ice storms kept Nurkic out in the several seasons he played in Portland? Stop trolling.

The whole point was to call out the hypocrisy and the lack of criticism for Nurkic. Yes he’s only missed one game due to injury this season. And Ayton’s missed only one playoff game in his career. I discussed the elimination game at the time and the fact that I had dealt with bruised ribs myself.

Severe rib pain and trouble breathing = “Get out there and run up and down the court you soft wimp!”

Sprained thumb on non-shooting hand = “No player could ever play through that!” (an injury that many players wrap up and play through—Embiid even played with a torn thumb ligament)

[Gladiator]

I do think the games are a little fluky. Beal was pretty useless and we count on him to run the offense when Booker sits. Both Orlando and Indy play aggressive defensively and the refs let them. We are going to be a high turnover team, it’s just hard when they happen in bunches in key moments. I do think we win both of those games if Beal doesn’t break his nose.

Why do you think it’s a given we will be a high turnover team? (History aside lol) is it the lack of a true point guard?
I still look at the team and think there are enough seemingly smart players that we should be able to take care of the ball better. Also a lot of our turnovers aren’t on Hail Mary type passes, just basic play done poorly. Surely we can tighten that up?

[Split T]

I do think the games are a little fluky. Beal was pretty useless and we count on him to run the offense when Booker sits. Both Orlando and Indy play aggressive defensively and the refs let them. We are going to be a high turnover team, it’s just hard when they happen in bunches in key moments. I do think we win both of those games if Beal doesn’t break his nose.

Why do you think it’s a given we will be a high turnover team? (History aside lol) is it the lack of a true point guard?
I still look at the team and think there are enough seemingly smart players that we should be able to take care of the ball better. Also a lot of our turnovers aren’t on Hail Mary type passes, just basic play done poorly. Surely we can tighten that up?

I think the big thing was moving from a CP3 led offense to a multi ball handler offense. Not to mention we have lots of new pieces that haven’t played together. Based on what we’ve become accustomed too, we are going to turn it over more.


I do agree the ones that are really irksome are the ones like the inbound pass to start the 4th. Or the lazy passes around the perimeter that get picked off with ease. I do agree we can cut back on those. And I think overall our turnovers haven’t been a huge issue with the full allotment of players.

[Shabazz]

I do think the games are a little fluky. Beal was pretty useless and we count on him to run the offense when Booker sits. Both Orlando and Indy play aggressive defensively and the refs let them. We are going to be a high turnover team, it’s just hard when they happen in bunches in key moments. I do think we win both of those games if Beal doesn’t break his nose.

Why do you think it’s a given we will be a high turnover team? (History aside lol) is it the lack of a true point guard?
I still look at the team and think there are enough seemingly smart players that we should be able to take care of the ball better. Also a lot of our turnovers aren’t on Hail Mary type passes, just basic play done poorly. Surely we can tighten that up?

I think the big thing was moving from a CP3 led offense to a multi ball handler offense. Not to mention we have lots of new pieces that haven’t played together. Based on what we’ve become accustomed too, we are going to turn it over more.


I do agree the ones that are really irksome are the ones like the inbound pass to start the 4th. Or the lazy passes around the perimeter that get picked off with ease. I do agree we can cut back on those. And I think overall our turnovers haven’t been a huge issue with the full allotment of players.

I think KD had like 3 unforced ball-handling turnovers yesterday.

Generally, you can also count on at least 3 Eubanks moving screens/36 and 2 EG boneheaded turnovers/4th quarter.

[Split T]

Ya KD has become a high turnover guy…I think he’s lost a little of his handle/athleticism of his prime.

[Flagrant Fowl]

The Magic mostly played the Suns straight up defensively and that's a big reason for the low 3PA. They could get away with it because of their size and perimeter athleticism so it won't be easy for most teams to replicate, but I can envision all of the top teams in the West implementing that tactic as their primary defensive strategy in the playoffs.

I worry that it's like catnip for the Suns big 3 who often develop tunnel vision when presented with a perceived mismatch. They need to be willing to run some actions regardless of a mismatch just to make the defense move and work through rotations, and that should provide more 3PA opportunities.

[Charlie Smithy!]

Ya KD has become a high turnover guy…I think he’s lost a little of his handle/athleticism of his prime.

No no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no please please don't put that on me split no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no we already went through this with Chris Paul and we sacrificed our future please split please no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no

[Split T]

Ya KD has become a high turnover guy…I think he’s lost a little of his handle/athleticism of his prime.

No no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no please please don't put that on me split no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no we already went through this with Chris Paul and we sacrificed our future please split please no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no

Well if it makes you feel any better I think this happened a couple years ago. He’s still an insane talent haha