PHOENIX — Every time the Phoenix Suns advance in a losing game, it shows how far the current group has to go to play at the level they want.
The first big game for a disjointed, sloppy and uninspired brand of basketball in December ended in a 128-114 Christmas loss to the Dallas Mavericks on Monday.
The Suns’ 38-27 third quarter proved that Phoenix could focus and execute on both ends of the floor, taking the lead for the first time in the game. Much better organization in exploiting the Mavericks’ weaknesses, as well as a continuation of the better ball movement they displayed all night, led to the breakthrough.
Until Dallas scored 37 points in the fourth quarter.
Phoenix’s team defense currently resembles that of a 25-win team. Off-the-ball rotations are often disrupted. All it takes is one mistake, which has happened frequently over the last month.
“We need five guys,” Suns guard Devin Booker said. “One miss and you get an open shooter, that’s all you need in the NBA. It takes five people working together and good communication.”
The final frame of a close game always comes down to who performs best, and it’s no surprise that statistically Phoenix is currently the worst fourth-quarter team in the NBA.
“We just had bad rotation and lacked discipline in our game plan,” Booker said of the 37-22 fourth quarter. “If you go out there and do what you need to do, you’ll do well. And as the game goes on, you just lose focus.”
The Suns (14-15) ultimately didn’t have a horse either.
Dallas (18-12) was already without one of its two players, Kyrie Irving (right heel contusion), but Luka Doncic was a successful playmaker and mastered everything the Suns threw at him. He came through in a unique manner, scoring 50 points, six rebounds, and had 15 assists on 15-of-25 shooting, four steals, and three blocks.
Booker had 10 assists and did a great job of sparking Phoenix’s ball movement. However, his scoring source could not be found. He scored 20 points on 6-of-14 shooting, but Kevin Durant struggled more to find space, finishing with 16 points on 4-of-11 shooting, eight rebounds, seven assists, and six turnovers. did. Durant has committed 18 turnovers in his last three games.
Phoenix had bad timing on a night when Grayson Allen scored 32 points and backup big Chiimezie Metu had 23 points and 19 rebounds.
As for the star duo’s low shot attempt totals, Booker believed it was more scheme-based from what Dallas’ defense was doing than him and Durant needing to be more aggressive. .
“Teams are going to let us throw the ball to those guys, and I’m going to continue to do that and make sure we have the right guys in the right spots to knock down shots,” Booker said, adding that made sure to return to his principles of always doing the right play.
This is the third time in four years that Doncic has had 40 points and 10 assists in a regular season game at Footprint Center. According to Stathead, something like this had only happened to the Suns’ opponents in Phoenix twice in the previous 50 years: Stephen Curry in 2017 and Elgin Baylor in 1968. Doncic clearly enjoys this matchup, whether it’s against his “rivalry” with Booker or the team that passed him with the No. 1 pick. He played 44 minutes, breaking the 40-minute threshold for the sixth time this month.
Allen was primarily guarding Doncic, but he was still able to have his best game of the season thus far. He has been the most consistently hard player this month. Allen knocked down eight of the Suns’ 14 threes, and Phoenix was very good, making 6 of 21 in the first half. Overall he had 41 attempts which was a good sign.
Metu was great at taking advantage of the Suns’ space (when there was space), diving with purpose after screens, and shattering the offensive glass. He took over most of the center play in the second half after Jusuf Nurkic left the team for personal reasons and Drew Eubanks played badly again.
Former Sun Derrick Jones Jr. scored 23 points and was part of the explosive 3-and-D wing he showed potential in years ago, even if he wasn’t a much more developed player than he is now. It looks like there is. Rookie center Derek Lively II appears to be finding success in Dallas’ front office as Doncic’s pick-and-roll partner. He added 20 points and 10 rebounds.
Speaking of Jones, despite reaching 60 losses on the season, Booker showed little frustration on the floor as he shrugged off extra defensive attention and made the correct pass, which led to a teammate’s misplay. It just created an advantage that led to. He had some moments like that on Monday, and he’s lost the last few games as well.
He was asked how frustrated he is right now after losing nine of his last 10 games.
“I’m high,” Booker said. “Every time we lose, it hurts.”
At this point, it’s safe to say that we’re beyond what can be classified as frustration. It’s more like a combination of anger and frustration at the way they’re playing.
Are you worried about boiling?
“No,” Booker said. “We just need to get it together. It’s my responsibility, it’s the coach’s responsibility, it’s KD, Eric, and here to make sure we’re more prepared when we go into the game. It is the responsibility of every leader in the world.”