Phoenix–AZ. The Phoenix Suns were back on the court. They returned after a small layoff. This happened after their close loss to the Denver Nuggets, in which Devin Booker made a last-second shot to win. The team played one of its better games in quite some time. The second half of the NBA regular season has not displayed the same hard-nosed style of play. The gritty play seen at the beginning has been missing for weeks. The Suns have struggled to beat good teams. They have also played down to the lesser opponents. They lost to them as well.
Tonight, the Suns brought a no-nonsense mindset, attacking the Utah Jazz from start to finish. They were led by starting guard Jalen Green (31). Green has had very good starts in his last few weeks of coming back from injury. He has looked more like the Rockets’ Green from last year. His three-point shot has come alive again. This makes him more deadly as he looks to get to the rim on every possession.
Tonight, Green hit 3 of 5 of his first three-point attempts. He jumped out to lead the team with 18 points early and finished with 5 total made threes. Life for star guard Devin Booker seems a little more or less hectic. He has not had as many double teams as he did when Green was out injured. Booker is not scoring the ball at a fluid rate as in times past. He seems to have become more of a facilitator, dealing out (8) assists. He added a very quiet 26 points, enjoying the attention that Green is attracting.
Suns get a 134-109 blowout victory at home. This win starts a new winning streak. Hopefully, it will get them closer to the 6th seed in the playoff race. Although now that goal may be out of reach with so little time left. The Suns would need Minnesota to melt down and go on a four-game losing streak. This is possible, as they have 4 of 5 tough opponents to face without their star guard, Anthony Edwards.
The team is said to be closer to getting back Mark Williams and Dillon Brooks from injury soon. Both were in 5-on-5 drills in practice. The word is they can return sometime during the next four-game road trip this week. The major question remains. How long will it take for the full roster to gel before a potential play-in game?
It will be interesting to imagine a situation similar to the Suns’ game against the Nuggets at the end. There is one possession left and one shot to take. The question arises of who will be the one taking that shot among the big-three. It’s hard to picture the Dillon Brooks from the first half of the season, playing with the other two scoring teammates in a playoff setting. Brooks has had the green light, and he has not shied away from it at all. He will need to channel his better decision-making skills alongside his anger for this thing to work properly.
One thing is for certain: when it comes to clutch-time situations, Brooks has relished them. He blossoms in that environment and will be a sort of calming presence for the rest of the team. How long will it take for Brooks to return to his previous playing level? Can they get Center Mark Williams to perform as he did in the first half of the season? These questions can only be answered on the court and learning comes with many hardships and pitfalls. There are only eight games remaining, the Suns have yet to play their big three more than a full 48-minute game.
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