Around the Suns - Weekly Roundup - Week 22

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

Week 22: 17-23 March

Week Record: 3-0

Overall Record: 34-37. 10th in the Western Conference.

Games Played and Results:

W - 129 - 89 Vs Toronto Raptors

W - 127 - 121 Vs Chicago Bulls

W - 123 - 112 Vs Cleveland Cavaliers

Centre of The Sun

𝟹̶ 40 is the magic number. Each game this week had a 40 piece.

40-point win against Toronto

41 points for Book against Chicago

42 points for Durant against Cleveland

So, it seems March Madness has affected the Suns, as we look like a completely different team to what we did a couple of weeks ago. They're playing with energy, speed, tenacity and impactful defence. It led to our biggest win by point differential since 2009 (a 48-point win over the Kings) and our biggest win vs and elite team in the Cavs, granted they're having a bit of a rough patch.

I'll go into it later in the Rookie Watch section, but Ryan Dunn and Oso Ighodaro have been absolutely fantastic this week. They've been invaluable with their hustle, ability to defend and be connectors in the offense. Book and KD have made it very clear they want these 2 on the court with them as much as possible.

Cody Martin has been a huge surprise for me. I really didn't know his game apart from he defends hard, couldn't shoot and was considered the worse out of him and his brother. His motor is so impressive and he just doesn't give up on plays. I've been so impressed with his defensive ability. There have been multiple occasions where he's missed a shot or the offense has broken down and he's tracked back to get a steal or block. Him and Ryan on the floor together has been very fun to watch.

The Suns are fun again 🙌 (for now)

Other Suns Stuff

Injuries

There have been quite a few injuries, which has made this past week's run even more impressive.

The big one is that Beal missed all the games, after the Suns decided to sit him to let his hamstring rest up and what a surprise, we have our best week in a long, long time. He really is not needed on this team, he's a bad fit.

Here are some great stats to back this up from Sam Cooper.

Beal will be re-evaluated early this week to see if he can return to the line-up.

Grayson also missed all of the week, with a foot strain. In an interview today he said it took longer to get better than they expected, but he is back tonight.

Plumlee is also out with a quad injury and there's been no news on when he'll return and finally Nick Richards missed the Cavs game with a calf injury. These injuries are what led to Oso Ighodaro playing 44 minutes against Cleveland.

Superstar Watch (Season stats):

Devin Booker - 25.8 Points, 4.1 Rebounds, 7.0 Assists, 1.0 Steals, 45.8 FG%, 34.9 3PT FG% & 2.8 Turnovers

Kevin Durant - 26.6 Points, 6.1 Rebounds, 4.4 Assists, 0.8 Steals, 1.2 Blocks, 52.8 FG%, 41.7 3PT FG% & 3.1 Turnovers

Bradley Beal - 17.3 Points, 3.4 Rebounds, 3.6 Assists, 1.0 Steals, 0.5 Blocks, 50.5 FG%, 39.5 3PT FG% & 1.9 Turnovers

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Scorching Suns:

I think both Book and KD have a chance at Player of the Week.

The Suns went 3-0 in impressive fashion, especially the Nationally televised win over the Cavaliers.

Both of them had 40-point games, taking over in the 2nd half of their respective 40-point performances.

KD shot the ball slightly better and has better rebounding numbers, but Book had a higher scoring average and more assists.

If one of them is successful, I think it'll be Durant. He also had a high assist rate and also got his 40-point game against arguably the best team in the league and on National TV.

Editor Note: only a few minutes before I'm due to publish this, Kevin Durant has been announced as the Western Conference Player of the Week. Devin Booker was also nominated 🔮.

Kevin Durant

His stats for the week:

27.3 Points, 4.3 Rebounds, 6.3 Assists, 58.8 FG% & 47.1 3PT FG%

Devin Booker

His stats for the week:

28.3 Points, 3.3 Rebounds, 7.7 Assists, 50.0 FG% & 45.5 3PT FG%

Struggling Suns:

Looking through the stats, even players like Gillespie and Martin, who haven't shot well, have been positives. Therefore, I'm copping out and not putting anyone here.

Stat Line(s) of the Week:

Kevin Durant Vs Cleveland Cavaliers

Game stat line:

42 Points, 6 Rebounds, 8 Assists, 1 Block, 17/29 FGs (58.6%) & 4/9 3PT FGs (44.4%)

Devin Booker vs Chicago Bulls

Game stat line:

41 Points, 4 Rebounds, 7 Assists, 14/26 FGs (53.8%) & 6/12 3PT FGs (50.0%).

Rookie Watch (Season stats):

It's been another impressive week for Ryan and Oso. They both appeared in all 3 of our games, with Dunn starting all of them and Oso starting against the Cavaliers.

In the start against Cleveland, Oso played a career high 44 minutes. That's double the amount of minutes he played in the whole of February! He also grabbed a career high 13 rebounds in the game, 5 of them being offensive, which is also a career high.

Although Ryan didn't set any career highs this week, he was our 3rd leading scorer after Books and KD and it was definitely his best week as a pro thus far, averaging 14 points, 6.7 rebounds and just under 44% from 3-point range.

Ryan Dunn - 63 games, 33 starts

6.4 Points, 3.2 Rebounds, 0.8 Assists, 0.5 Steals, 0.6 Blocks, 43.4 FG%, 30.8 3PT FG% & 0.4 Turnovers

Oso Igodharo - 50 games, 3 starts

3.7 Points, 3.6 Rebounds, 1.1 Assists, 0.4 Steals, 0.4 Blocks, 60.0 FG%, 0.0 3PT FG% (1 attempt) & 0.6 Turnovers

Jalen Bridges - 5 games

0.8 Points, 0.6 Rebounds, 0.0 Assists, 0.0 Steals, 0.0 Blocks, 25.0 FG%, 25.0 3PT FG% & 0.8 Turnovers

Upcoming Games:

Here are the UK tip-off times:

One of the toughest weeks of the season is right on our doorstep. We face 4 of the top teams in the league, including the defending champs. The only thing more intimidating than this week's schedule is our schedule next week 😅

Anyway, we've been on a roll, as already discussed, but this is going to be hard and we're going to need some other teams to have bad weeks to keep the 10th spot.

First up, the Bucks. They're 5-5 over their last 10 games, but have won 2 in a row even without Lillard, who's nursing a groin injury. Ss of writing, there's no word whether he will play us. Of course, Giannis is always a problem, once again, no injury update, but hopefully Richards and Plumlee are back for some extra fouls to give him.

The defending champs are next. Like the Bucks, they're dealing with some injuries to key players. Holiday and Porzingis missed their last game and Jaylen Brown has missed their last 4. Despite this, they are still deep and have won 9 of their last 10 and boast a 5 game win streak. We are their 4th stop on a 6-game road trip, so maybe some fatigue will slow them.

Our only road game this week is against the Timberwolves. This is our last meeting with them of the season, where they've handled us quite easily in our other match-ups. Edwards always shows out against us, with KD being his favourite player, but he's currently listed as questionable for Monday's game, with a thumb injury. They are also a big team - a weak area for us.

Back home for our final game against the Rockets. They're currently 2nd in the NBA, a whole game ahead of the Nuggets. They have no big injuries at the moment and have a big swing of momentum at the right time, with the Playoffs around the corner. Like Boston, they have won 9 of their last 10 games.

Prediction:

I really don't know where to go for this coming week. My heart obviously wants us to win as many of these as possible, but my head knows it's going to be extremely tough.

I'm going to go with wins against the Bucks and Timberwolves, but losses to the Celtics and Rockets.

Predictions League:

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