Around the Suns - Weekly Roundup - Week 20

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

Week 20: 4-10 March 2024

Week Record: 2-1

Overall Record: 37-27. 6th in the Western Conference.

Games Played and Results:

W - 117 - 107 Vs Denver Nuggets (Overtime)

W - 120 - 113 Vs Toronto Raptors

L - 107 - 117 Vs Boston Celtics

Centre of The Sun

Going into this week then thought of not having Devin Booker, as he missed time with a sprained ankle, was a troublesome one. That was until we withheld a big Nuggets comeback attempt, to then dominate in overtime.

Durant was the star of the show, as he would go on to be for the whole week. He and Beal both hot all their shots in the extra period, combining for 13 of our 15 points. Those 15 were also 3 more than what we scored in the 4th - yes, we were that bad again in the period 😅.

Allen was on fire from 3, hitting 8 and finishing with 28 points.

On paper the Raptors were the easiest game of the week and we secured the W as to be expected.

Durant was brilliant again, scoring 35, and Grayson Allen put on another 3-point shooting masterclass. He had a Suns record 7 3-pointers in the 1st quarter, finishing the half (tying a Suns record) and game with 8 of them for a total 26 points.

I think it's the result we expected against the best and most consistent team in the league when missing Devin Booker.

Durant was amazing, scoring a season high 45 and he made it look pretty easy making 18 of 26 shots. Beal had a nice game too, dropping 25. Nurk played great in his minutes, using his size advantage on the Boston switches. It was odd that he hardly played in the 4th quarter though, although KD was rolling with the group that was on the floor.

Superstar Watch (Season stats):

Devin Booker - 27.5 Points, 4.6 Rebounds, 6.8 Assists, 0.9 Steals, 49.4 FG%, 37.9 3PT FG% & 2.6 Turnovers

Kevin Durant - 28.3 Points, 6.7 Rebounds, 5.5 Assists, 0.9 Steals, 1.3 Blocks, 52.9 FG%, 42.3 3PT FG% & 3.4 Turnovers

Bradley Beal - 18.4 Points, 4.1 Rebounds, 4.6 Assists, 0.9 Steals, 49.6 FG%, 38.1 3PT FG% & 2.5 Turnovers

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Scorching Suns:

Kevin Durant

I held off publishing this week's edition hoping KD would win Player of the Week, but he missed out to Doncic, who averaged a triiple-double.

KD was fantastic this week, picking up the scoring load with Booker out.

His stats for the week:

38.3 Points, 7.0 Rebounds, 4.0 Assists, 54.4 FG% & 45.0 3PT FG%.

Grayson Allen

Grayson's shooting has been so good this week, that he was able to go 0 for 4 from 3 against Boston and still have the below shooting numbers.

He his 8 3's 2 games in a row which is a Suns franchise record.

His stats for the week:

20.3 Points, 4.3 Rebounds, 3.0 Assists, 1.0 Steal, 54.1 FG% & 53.3 3PT FG%.

Jusuf Nurkic

Nurk is on a roll of 7 games in a row with double digit rebounds. Over the 3 games this week he's averaged over 12 per game, along with crazy efficiency and assist numbers better than a lot of guards.

His stats for the week:

8.3 Points, 12.3 Rebounds, 5.0 Assists, 1.0 Steal, 1.7 Blocks & 73.3 FG%.

Struggling Suns:

Eric Gordon

Umm, he stank this week. Many wide open shot clanging out of the rim, leading to only 1 three going down all week. He's out with a sore knee to start the new week, so maybe this was bothering him.

His stats for the week:

3.0 Points, 1.7 Rebounds, 1.7 Assists, 1.0 Steal, 17.6 FG% & 10.0 3PT FG%.

Saben Lee

With Book out, Frank Vogel has had to go down the bench to cover the guard minutes and the only guy available is Saben. Unfortunately he's a bit out of his depth against the heavyweight teams and Boston weren't even defending him when he had the ball on the perimeter.

I need to give him props for the only field goal he made this week, but apart from this he couldn't buy a bucket.

His stats for the week:

1.7 Points, 1.7 Rebounds, 2.3 Assists, 0.91 FG% & 0.0 3PT FG% (3 attempts).

Stat Line(s) of the Week:

Kevin Durant vs Boston Celtics

KD's season high came against the team pipped to win it all this year. He was un-guardable throughout and almost got us the win single-handedly, cutting the Boston lead to 5 late in the 4th.

Game stat line:

45 Points, 10 Rebounds, 6 Assists, 1 Steal, 18/26 FGs (69.2%) & 4/7 3PT FGs (57.1%).

Grayson Allen vs Toronto Raptors

It was this one or the Nuggets game, but I went with this one because of that incredible 1st quarter.

Grayson his 7 of 8 from 3, for 21 points. The 7 3's in a quarter is a Suns record.

It was also hit 2nd game in a row hitting 8 3's.

Game stat line:

26 Points, 3 Rebounds, 3 Assists, 1 Block, 8/14 FGs (57.1%) & 8/14 3PT FGs (57.1%).

Honourable Mention:

Bol Bol vs Boston Celtics

Bol only played 10 minutes, but he came in and made a huge impact.

Game stat line:

13 Points, 4 Rebounds, 6/7 FGs (85.7%) & 1/2 3PT FGs (50.0%).

Upcoming Games:

A 4-game road-trip awaits us this week all out on the East coast. The good news is that means some more reasonable tip-off times.

Monday sees us face the Cavs for the 1st time this season. The Cavs are having a good season, but are missing Donovan Mitchell, Evan Mobley, Max Strus and Dean Wade, which gives us a good opportunity to kick the week off with a win.

After only seeing them in Phoenix on Saturday, we head to Boston to face the Celtics again. There's hope that Book could be back from injury for this one and we didn't lose to them by too much at the weekend. However, they're still the best team in the league, boasting the best home record of 29-3!

The Hornets are up next, which should be a win, as they're having another tough season, with a 16-48 record and the 2nd worst offense in the league at on 107 points per game.

Our final game of the week against the Bucks is at the most UK friendly time that NBA has to offer. Sunday at 5pm!

Milwaukee sit 2nd in the East behind Boston and can also boast a great home record with a 78% winning record at Fiserv. They have the 2nd best offense in the league thanks to Giannis and Dame, along with great complimentary pieces in Lopez and Middleton. We won the 1st match-up in Phoenix, but they were without Dame and lost Middleton to injury part way through the 1st quarter and our Big 3 went on to combine for 85 points.

Prediction:

We need to take advantage of the Cavs' injury problems and the Hornets game should be an automatic W. It's the games against the Celtics and Bucks that worry me. They will both be excellent tests, but at this point their teams seem more in sync than we do.

I'm going to be predictable and predict we beat the Cavs and Hornets, but lose to the Celtics and Bucks.

Predictions League:

Other Suns Stuff:

NBA All-Star is Coming to Phoenix

On Thursday the Suns and NBA Commissioner Adam Silver held a press conference at the Footprint Center officially confirming that Phoenix will host the 2027 NBA All-Star game.

According to Adam Silver, Mat Ishbia has been pursuing this constantly since taking over the team, saying it's one of the 1st things Mat said to him 🤭.

Phoenix last hosted the game in 2009 and had Amar'e Stoudemire and Shaquille O'Neal representing the Suns. Shaq took co-MVP honours alongside Kobe Bryant, with 17 points.

Amar'e was a starter and finished with 19 points and 6 rebounds.

Strongman Returns

On Tuesday the Suns re-signed Ish Wainwright on a two-way contract. Portland waived him after struggling with injuries and not managing to crack their rotation.

Phoenix waived Theo Maledon to make room on the roster for the move.

More Durant Milestones

KD's 45 point game against Boston was the 70th 40-point game of his career and ties him with Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Rick Barry for the 9th most in NBA history.

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