Around the Suns - A Go On My Suns! blog - Week 12
- Matt Elvy
- Jan 13
- 5 min read
Join us as we review the highs and lows of the last week, as well as previewing the week ahead.
Week 12: 5-11 January
Week Record: 3-1
Overall Record: 24-15. 6th in the Western Conference.
Games Played and Results:
L - 97 - 100 Vs Houston Rockets
W - 117 - 98 Vs Memphis Grizzlies
W - 112 - 107 Vs New York Knicks
W - 112 - 93 Vs Washington Wizards
Centre of The Sun
Look who's in 6th place! Oh, and we happen to be having a battle for this spot with our 2 rival teams - Lakers and Rockets, who are both struggling at the moment, while we're flying high.
Yes, we did lose to the Rockets to start the week, they just have a team that matches up so well against us. We played a lot better in this game though and it took a KD game winner for them to put us away. I didn't come away from that game with a bad taste in my mouth, I think we did well. We welcomed Grayson back from injury in this one, his shot was off, but he contributed in his other usual ways, with rebounds, assists and steals.
Memphis are struggling and I've got to the point where I feel like we are always going to win the games we're supposed to win, i.e. teams under or around .500.
The Suns had essentially won this game a couple of minutes into the 4th quarter, so the starters all got to have most of the quarter on the bench.
It was homecoming of sort for Dillon, facing the team he spent his first 6 seasons with and as you'd expect he was aggressive on the offensive end, scoring 21 points.
Grayson found his legs and shot 5 of 10 from 3, including some loooovely step backs.
Rasheer pulled off the highlight of his career with a poster dunk on Jaren Jackson Jr. He finished the game with a career high 8 points.
Against the Knicks, Book & Brooks combined for 58 points and the team out hustled and forced the Knicks into 18 turnovers en route to the victory (a couple of missed free throws from Anunoby also helped).
The game and really, the Suns whole season was captured in this one play from Grayson Allen to gain an extra possession for the Suns.
Book had a bounce-back game from 3, hitting 4 of 6 contributing to his 31 points. It's his 12th 30-point game of the season.
Not to disrespect the Wizards, but this game was a foregone conclusion before it started. Book finished his night with a few minutes left in the 3rd, as we built a 25+ point lead and no starter apart from Gillespie played in the 4th.
Royce O'Neale's recent hot shooting hit it's peak as he knocked down 5 of 9, on his way to a season high 19 points.
Other Suns Stuff
POTW Nomination
Book's strong week got some recognition from the NBA, as he was nominated for the Western Conference Player of the Week.
He averaged 22 Points and 6.8 Assists, leading us to our 3-1 week.
Best Record in The NBA
Since Christmas, the Suns boast the best record in the NBA going 8-2.
Superstar Watch (Season stats):
Devin Booker - 25.3 Points, 3.9 Rebounds, 6.4 Assists, 0.9 Steals, 45.8 FG%, 30.6 3PT FG% & 3.3 Turnovers
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Scorching Suns:
Royce O'Neale
We've had a week of positive Royce shooting! He's also had at least 6 rebounds in all 4 games and a season high 19 points against the Wizards.
His stats for the week:
14.5 Points, 6.3 Rebounds, 3.0 Assists, 1.5 Steals, 51.4 FG% & 50.0 3PT FG%
Struggling Suns:
Jordan Goodwin
Putting this out there straight away - this is not a knock on anything Goody is doing on the court in terms of passion and energy, this is purely because of those shooting numbers.
His stats for the week:
8.0 Points, 5.3 Rebounds, 3.0 Assists, 1.3 Steals, 30.8 FG% & 26.9 3PT FG%
Stat Line(s) of the Week:
Dillon Brooks Vs New York Knicks
Game stat line:
27 Points, 7 Rebounds, 5 Assists, 8/15 FGs (53.3%) & 5/9 3PT FGs (55.6%)
Royce O'Neale Vs Washington Wizards
I have to shoutout a season high when I see one!
Game stat line:
19 Points, 7 Rebounds, 4 Assists, 2 Steals, 6/10 FGs (60.0%) & 5/9 3PT FGs (55.6%)
Rookie Watch (Season stats):
Khaman Maluach - 18 games, 0 starts
1.3 Points, 1.0 Rebounds, 0.2 Assists, 0.1 Steals, 0.4 Blocks, 40.0 FG%, 0.0 3PT FG% & 0.5 Turnovers
Rasheer Fleming - 23 games, 0 starts
Rasheer scored a career high 8 points, including a poster over Jaren Jackson Jr, in our win over the Grizzlies!
2.7 Points, 1.3 Rebounds, 0.2 Assists, 0.3 Steals, 0.3 Blocks, 34.8 FG%, 20.0 3PT FG% & 0.2 Turnovers
Koby Brea - 2 games
2.0 Points, 0.5 Rebounds, 1.0 Assists, 0.0 Steals, 0.0 Blocks, 33.3 FG%, 0.0 3PT FG% & 0.0 Turnovers
Upcoming Games:
Our longest road-trip of the season begins, as we head out East for 6 games in 12 days.
First up is the Miami Heat. Like the last few seasons they are very mid. They're 8th in the East with a 20-19 record and have gone 5-5 in their last 10.
We then head to Detroit to face the high flying Pistons. They're one of the big surprises this season and have been playing excellent ball behind Cade Cunningham and currently hold the East's top spot.
Detroit is Book's home city and always plays well there, usually in front of many of his family. We may be the underdogs in that one, but expect Book to show up in a big way.
Finally it's off to New York. The Knicks will want revenge after their defeat in Phoenix and this time they'll have homecourt advantage.
Prediction:
We're playing brilliantly right now, but anything can happen on the road. I have us winning in Miami, losing in Detroit, then winning in New York.
Predictions League:
Here are the league standings after week 11.
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