Around the Suns - A Go On My Suns! blog - Week 21

Join us as we review the highs and lows of the last week for the Phoenix Suns, as well as previewing the week ahead.

Week 21: 9 - 15 March

Week Record: 2-1

Overall Record: 39-28. 7th in the Western Conference.

Games Played and Results:

W - 129 - 114 Vs Milwaukee Bucks

W - 123 - 108 Vs Indiana Pacers

L - 115 - 122 Vs Toronto Raptors

Centre of The Sun

Book and Jalen went on an incredible scoring tear this week and carried all the scoring load, while some of our other guys weren't scoring big. Book has scored at least 27 in all 3 and is currently on a streak of 6 games in a row scoring over that amount.

Equally, Jalen scored at least 25 in every game and is on a streak of 5 games with at least 24 points and has scored over 20 in 6 of the last 7.

The Suns kicked off their 6-game road trip in Milwaukee with a big 15-point win. Book, Jalen and Royce combined for 73 points and the team hit a season high 24 3-pointers.The Pacers game was the highlight of the week as both Book and Jalen had season highs. Book scored 43 points and Jalen added 36, com

Book led with 27, Jalen had 25 and Royce added 21. Royce had a huge 3rd quarter hitting 6 3's for 18 points. Collin Gillespie didn't score big, but he was 1 rebound and 1 assist off of a triple-double.

The Pacers game was the highlight of the week as both Book and Jalen had season highs. Book scored 43 points and Jalen added 36, combining for 79. Royce also had another good game hitting 5 3's for 15 points.

Jalen looked great in this one as well, and put the cherry on top with a 17 point 4th quarter.

The Raptors game was another night of Book and Jalen scoring big, and Jalen hitting a career equalling best 8 3-pointers, but the Raptors fought back in the 4th, outscoring us 36-23.

On a positive note, Rasheer Fleming had one of the best stretches of his young career, showing off his huge potential.

Other Suns Stuff

Book Climbs the NBA Scoring Ladder

En route to his season high 43 points, Book passed Shawn Marion and Magic Johnson on the NBA's all-time scoring list. He is now 89th.

Rasheer Joins Some Big Names

Rasheer's performance against Toronto has led to him joining the record books with a Suns legend and one of the greatest players to wear a Suns jersey

Collin Joins the Best Sharpshooters

Against Milwaukee, Collin became just the 5th Sun in franchise history to hit 200+ 3-pointers in a single season.

He joins Grayson Allen, Gerald Green, Raja Bell and Quentin Richardson as the only other players to achieve this.

Superstar Watch (Season stats):

Devin Booker - 25.4 Points, 4.0 Rebounds, 6.0 Assists, 0.9 Steals, 45.2 FG%, 32.8 3PT FG% & 3.2 Turnovers

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Scorching Suns:

Jalen Green

What a fantastic week for Jalen. He was really struggling a couple of weeks ago, but alongside Book this week, his performances have shown the huge potential this backcourt has.

His stats for the week:

31.7 Points, 4.0 Rebounds, 4.3 Assists, 1.7 Steals, 54.4 FG% & 40.0 3PT FG%

Devin Booker

And the other half of the backcourt. Book found his 3-point stroke this week and showed of his quality, being defended by two-way players and G-Leaguers in Milwaukee and Indiana. He was like a surgeon on offense this week, with the jewel in the crown being his season-high 43 against the Pacers.

His stats for the week:

33.7 Points, 5.0 Rebounds, 4.0 Assists, 0.7 Steals, 0.7 Blocks, 47.2 FG% & 52.6 3PT FG%

Struggling Suns:

Collin Gillespie

Collin has struggled shooting this week. He had a good game against Milwaukee, but missed all his 3-point attempts against Indiana and Toronto.

His stats for the week:

5.3 Points, 6.3 Rebounds, 5.3 Assists, 1.3 Steals, 33.3 FG% & 28.6 3PT FG%

Stat Line(s) of the Week:

Devin Booker Vs Indiana Pacers

A season high for Book and his first 40-point game of the season.

Game stat line:

43 Points, 7 Rebounds, 5 Assists, 1 Steal, 1 Block, 14/31 FGs (45.2%) & 4/7 3PT FGs (57.1%)

Jalen Green Vs Indiana Pacers

Game stat line:

36 Points, 3 Rebounds, 4 Assists, 4 Steals, 14/23 FGs (60.9%) & 3/9 3PT FGs (33.3%)

Honourable Mentions

Collin Gillespie Vs Milwaukee Bucks

Game stat line:

12 Points, 9 Rebounds, 9 Assists, 2 Steals, 4/9 FGs (44.4%) & 4/9 3PT FGs (44.4%)

Royce O'Neale's 3rd quarter vs Milwaukee Bucks

Quarter stat line:

18 Points, 2 Rebounds, 1 Assist, 1 Steal, 6/8 FGs (75.0%) & 6/8 3PT FGs (75.0%)

Rookie Watch (Season stats):

Khaman Maluach - 32 games, 0 starts

2.2 Points, 1.9 Rebounds, 0.2 Assists, 0.1 Steals, 0.5 Blocks, 54.7 FG%, 18.2 3PT FG% & 0.7 Turnovers

Rasheer Fleming - 41 games, 0 starts

3.5 Points, 2.0 Rebounds, 0.2 Assists, 0.3 Steals, 0.3 Blocks, 40.5 FG%, 35.9 3PT FG% & 0.3 Turnovers

Koby Brea - 5 games

3.2 Points, 0.4 Rebounds, 0.6 Assists, 0.0 Steals, 0.0 Blocks, 55.6 FG%, 57.1 3PT FG% & 0.0 Turnovers

Upcoming Games:

The road trip continues this week, but the opponents are all top teams.

It starts off very tough with a back-to-back in Boston and then Minnesota. Boston now have Tatum back from injury and he's looked good so far. When we matched up with them in February it was role player fest, as both teams were missing their All-Stars and top scorers, so this one will be interesting.

We've fared quite well previously against Minnesota, but they are long and we don't have Mark Williams inside to take advantage of Gobert. I hope Oso can overcome the size with his speed. Oh, there's that Anthony Edwards fella to deal with as well - put Rasheer on him is what I say.

Not much to say about the Spurs that hasn't already been said and I don't think Milwaukee will have improved since our match-up this week. I'm also looking at a revenge game against Raptors.

Prediction:

Going to be a tough stretch, but I'm going with a win in Boston, losses to Minnesota and Spurs, followed by wins at home against the Bucks and Raptors.

I'm unsure on my Celtics prediction, but I have faith in our team.

Predictions League:

Here are the league standings after week 21.

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