Around the Suns - Weekly Roundup - Week 2

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

Week 2: 28 October - 3 November 2024

Week Record: 3-0

Overall Record: 5-1. 2nd in the Western Conference.

Games Played and Results:

W - 109 - 105 Vs Los Angeles Lakers

W - 125 - 119 Vs LA Clippers

W - 103 - 97 Vs Portland Trail Blazers

Centre of The Sun

The Suns won all their games last week, riding a 4-game win streak to 2nd in the West. It wasn't easy though, with all games seeing leads slip, but luckily we came out on top.

Against the Lakers we went down big in the 1st quarter, but came back to win the game with a strong push in the 4th, which coincidentally was the exact opposite of our loss to them the week before.

It was a similar story against the Clippers, but they built their lead up to 21 in the opening minutes of the 3rd quarter. The Suns though, had one of the best quarters you'll see, hitting 15 shots in a row, spearheaded by 12 from Book, hitting 5/5 and 2/2 from 3. They finished the quarter shooting 16 for 20, the only misses being from beyond the arc. The last time we hit that many shots in a row, a certain 2-time MVP was still running the show.

On paper the Blazers should have been an easy win, but the Suns fell into some old habits from last season, being sloppy with the ball. We built up a 26 point lead in the 3rd, but allowed the Blazers to fight back. Almost everyone shot the ball badly, with only Tyus Jones and Grayson Allen reliably knocking down shots. I do need to shout out the 3rd quarter though, the Suns were brilliant again in that period for the 2nd game in a row. They held Portland to 25% shooting, but hitting 60% themselves. It was the only quarter where we shot more than 30% 🤯. Ultimately Phoenix held on to get the win.

Superstar Watch (Season stats):

Devin Booker - 26.7 Points, 4.2 Rebounds, 5.7 Assists, 1.2 Steals, 46.2 FG%, 40.0 3PT FG% & 2.0 Turnovers

Kevin Durant - 25.8 Points, 7.0 Rebounds, 3.0 Assists, 0.8 Steals, 1.5 Blocks, 51.9 FG%, 44.1 3PT FG% & 3.3 Turnovers

Bradley Beal - 17.3 Points, 3.5 Rebounds, 4.5 Assists, 1.5 Steals, 1.0 Blocks, 47.2 FG%, 40.7 3PT FG% & 1.3 Turnovers

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Scorching Suns:

Devin Booker

After an opening week that didn't live up to his own expectations, Book was back with a vengeance this week, posting 33, 40 & 28. If you ignore the Portland game, he hit these numbers with awesome efficiency.

This writer is very happy I waited before posting this week's edition, because the below numbers and our 3-0 record won Book the Western Conference Player of the Week award, the 10th in his career.

His stats for the week:

33.7 Points, 5.7 Rebounds, 6.3 Assists, 1.3 Steals, 48.4 FG% & 37.0 3PT FG%

Royce O'Neale

Propped up by his career night, netting 21 points and only missing 1 shot, Royce's shooting numbers this week match the eye test on the court. He does it all for this team and is going to be huge for us the rest of the season.

His stats for the week:

12.0 Points, 7.7 Rebounds, 2.7 Assists, 1.3 Blocks, 52.2 FG% & 53.3 3PT FG%

Struggling Suns:

Jusuf Nurkic

Speaking of numbers matching the eye test, things are not going well for Nurk. It felt like every time he touched the ball, something went wrong.

His stats for the week:

5.3 Points, 7.3 Rebounds, 0.7 Assists, 0.7 Blocks, 27.8 FG%, 28.6 3PT FG% & 2.7 Turnovers

Stat Line(s) of the Week:

Devin Booker vs Los Angeles Clippers

After a slow start, this was the Book game we were waiting for. We thought we'd got it with his 33 points against the Lakers, but this one easily topped it. He was the best player on the floor all night.

Game stat line:

40 Points, 5 Rebounds, 8 Assists, 3 Steals, 11/18 FGs (61.1%) & 5/9 3PT FGs (55.6%).

Royce O'Neale vs Los Angeles Clippers

It's crazy to think that 21 points is Royce's career high. It's a testament to how he just does all the dirty work that his teams have needed from him.

Game stat line:

21 Points, 7 Rebounds, 1 Assist, 1 Steal, 1 Block, 7/8 FGs (87.5%) & 5/6 3PT FGs (83.3%).

Honourable Mention:

Devin Booker vs Portland Trail Blazers

Book didn't shoot the ball well against Portland, but you can't deny a near triple double.

Game stat line:

28 Points, 9 Rebounds, 9 Assists, 9/23 FGs (39.1%), 2/10 3PT FGs (20.0%) & 1 Turnover.

Rookie Watch (Season stats):

Ryan Dunn - 6 games, 2 starts

7.8 Points, 2.2 Rebounds, 0.8 Assists, 0.5 Steals, 0.3 Blocks, 46.2 FG%, 39.3 3PT FG% & 0.3 Turnovers

Ryan started in place of Beal, as he missed the Clippers game. Dunn had a career night scoring 16 points, knocking down 4 threes on 9 attempts and grabbing 4 rebounds.

Oso Igodharo - 4 games

1.0 Points, 2.3 Rebounds, 0.0 Assists, 0.0 Steals, 0.3 Blocks, 66.7 FG%, 0.0 3PT FG% (0 attempts) & 0.5 Turnovers

Oso had just 4 minutes against the Clippers. He grabbed and offensive board and hit the only shot he took.

Jalen Bridges - 0 games

Jalen is currently with the Valley Suns G-League team.

Upcoming Games:

4 games this week and we can finally put those LA teams behind us for a couple of weeks.

Here are the UK tip-off times:

The 76ers are yet to have Embiid and free agent signing Paul George suit up for them this season, but that changes tonight, as George will be making his Sixers debut.

The Heat have been one of the better teams in the East so far and their visit to Phoenix kicks off their road trip and also ends our 3-game home stand.

We head to Dallas for our 2nd match-up of the season with the Mavs. Doncic always plays well against the Suns, so we just have to hope that his teammates do not, which is what happened in the 1st match-up, where we won.

The Kings are an odd team and I'm not sure how much the DeRozan signing has helped them. They're 3-3 at the time of writing, but they are always a threat with the core players they have.

Prediction:

I envision 1 loss coming this week, with multiple teams that can get hot and take it to us. I think we will beat the Sixers, Heat and Kings, but lose to the Mavs.

Predictions League:

Other Suns Stuff:

KD 10K

Congrats to Kevin Durant who became just the 16th player in NBA history to make 10,000 field goals.

Book climbs more Suns Ladders

Against the Clippers Book passed Jason Kidd to move into 5th place on the All-Time Suns Assist list.

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