Around the Suns - Weekly Roundup - Week 21

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

Week 21: 11-17 March 2024

Week Record: 2-2

Overall Record: 39-29. 8th in the Western Conference.

Games Played and Results:

W - 117 - 111 Vs Cleveland Cavaliers

L - 112 - 127 Vs Boston Celtics

W - 107 - 96 Vs Charlotte Hornets

L - 129 - 140 Vs Milwaukee Bucks

Centre of The Sun

The Suns had a real up and down week. The results were as I expected, losing to the Celtics and Bucks, but the Suns overall performance throughout the week was sub-par.

Maybe it's Sunday's Bucks game that's left a bad taste in my mouth? I turned off one of the best FA Cup Quarter Final games ever to watch, whatever we can describe that Suns performance was. I was so excited for that 5pm tip-off time as well 😒

The team have looked as though they lacked energy in every game. Even the wins against a Cavs team missing 3 of their top players and a Hornets team who have struggled all year, we had massive defensive lapses.

What concerns me the most is the lack of defensive effort at this point in the season and when you see that over the last 3 weeks of the season EVERY game is against a Playoff team.

Were there any positives this week? Well, yes - wins are wins and we had some excellent individual performances from Grayson Allen, Nurkic and Beal.

Another positive is that last week is over and we can move on to this week, where we face some easier teams, with 2 games at home.

Superstar Watch (Season stats):

Devin Booker - 27.2 Points, 4.7 Rebounds, 6.9 Assists, 0.9 Steals, 49.1 FG%, 35.8 3PT FG% & 2.6 Turnovers

Kevin Durant - 27.8 Points, 6.7 Rebounds, 5.4 Assists, 0.9 Steals, 1.2 Blocks, 52.5 FG%, 41.9 3PT FG% & 3.3 Turnovers

Bradley Beal - 18.8 Points, 4.1 Rebounds, 4.8 Assists, 1.0 Steal, 50.7 FG%, 37.8 3PT FG% & 2.5 Turnovers

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Scorching Suns:

Bradley Beal

Beal was the most consistent member of the "Big 3" this week, with Book struggling from

His stats for the week:

22.3 Points, 4.5 Rebounds, 6.3 Assists, 1.3 Steals, 59.7 FG% & 35.3 3PT FG%.

Grayson Allen

Another fantastic shooting week for Grayson. He had 2 games where he only missed 1 3-point attempt.

His stats for the week:

19.0 Points, 2.3 Rebounds, 3.3 Assists, 1.3 Steal, 63.4 FG% & 56.7 3PT FG%.

Eric Gordon

The up and down shooting from Eric Gordon this season continues. This week it's an up. In the 2 games he played he shot the ball brilliantly.

His stats for the week:

12.0 Points, 1.0 Rebounds, 2.0 Assists, 64.3 FG% & 60.0 3PT FG%.

Struggling Suns:

Devin Booker's 3-Point Shooting

This could be blasphemy, but Book has been awful from 3 this week, hitting only 3 of his 26 attempts - 15.5%.

In fact his 3-point shooting was so bad this week, his season average has dropped from 37.9% to 35.8%.

We need him to be stepping up, especially in a week where we struggled so much.

His stats for the week:

23.5 Points, 5.8 Rebounds, 7.8 Assists, 45.1 FG% & 15.5 3PT FG%.

Stat Line(s) of the Week:

Kevin Durant vs Cleveland Cavaliers

This was KD's best game of the week and capped off 4 games in a row scoring 25+ points.

Game stat line:

37 Points, 8 Rebounds, 6 Assists, 1 Steal, 14/26 FGs (53.8%) & 5/10 3PT FGs (50.0%).

Grayson Allen vs Boston Celtics

I could have also chosen Grayson's performance against the Cavs because he was one of the only bright spots in that game and they were the tougher opponent.

Game stat line:

20 Points, 3 Rebounds, 1 Steal, 8/9 FGs (88.9%) & 4/5 3PT FGs (80.0%).

Honourable Mention:

Jusuf Nurkic vs Charlotte Hornets

Game stat line:

13 Points, 21 Rebounds, 2 Assists, 1 Block & 5/9 FGs (55.6%).

Upcoming Games:

Ahhh, back home after that difficult East Coast swing.

Our 1st 2 games are back in Phoenix, before heading to San Antonio for the 1st game of a back-to-back against the Spurs.

Philly are without Joel Embiid, and have been struggling lately. Thanks to how they were performing before the injury and keeping their head just above the water, they sit at 6th in the East.

We last faced them in our 6th game of the season, where we lost. The teams are very different now, as we had guys missing then, but the tables have turned this time round.

The Hawks visit us in the 5th and final game of their West Coast road trip. Trae Young is out at the moment, but that didn't stop them beating the Clippers a few days ago.

Expect this one to be a high scoring game, as the Hawks are 6th in the NBA for pace, but 29th in defence. They're currently 10th in the East, fighting for a Play-In spot.

Our final game against the Spurs kicks off a 5-game road trip. Wemby is playing great for them, but overall they're at the bottom of the league. However, we famously lost to them twice back in October, with Wemby having his "I'm here" game, so don't expect them to rollover for us.

Prediction:

The team will not have been happy with last week's performances and I see a bounce back coming. 3 wins please!

Predictions League:

Other Suns Stuff:

Suns Sign Former All-Star Isaiah Thomas

The Suns have signed their former guard to a 10-day contract. This obviously isn't a needle moving signing, but Frank Vogel mentioned Saben Lee only being available for 4 more games because of his Two-way contract.

We're famous!

I used the #CouchSideFam recently in a pic of me and my boys, as we were getting ready to watch a game and in the 1st quarter of the Hornets game we were featured on the broadcast!

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