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: 18-24 March 2024

Week Record: 3-0

Overall Record: 42-29. 6th in the Western Conference.

Games Played and Results:

W - 115 - 102 Vs Philadelphia 76ers

W - 128 - 115 Vs Atlanta Hawks

W - 131 - 106 Vs San Antonio Spurs

Centre of The Sun

With the extremely tough schedule on the horizon, the Suns needed this week to be a good one and, thankfully, it was as they won all 3 of their games.

Book found his 3-point stroke shooting 50%, helped by hitting 6 of 8 against Atlanta (no, he still hasn't broke through that 6 3-pointers ceiling).

He had a near triple-double against Philadelphia, then followed that with back-to-back 30-point games. His week got him nominated for Western Conference Player of the Week.

Beal continues to shine, now that he's put his injury woes behind him. Last week it was scoring, but with Book back on form, Beal moves to facilitator averaging 9.0 on the week, setting his season high of 12 against the Hawks.

The big revelation this week was our bench and role players finally starting to click.

Royce O'Neale is finally out of the shooting slump that he'd been in for the past few weeks, bringing the 3 back the 3 & D skills set he has. He hit 50% of the 3's he took over the 3 games.

Eric Gordon had his 2nd good week in a row and even with a down game against San Antonio he was on fire!

The most pleasant surprise for me though is that Drew Eubanks hasn't been a liability on the floor this week, contributing some timely blocks and highlight dunks. He's actually looked like the player we saw over the 1st month of the season.

I do hope this continues and carries over to the Playoffs.

Superstar Watch (Season stats):

Devin Booker - 27.2 Points, 4.8 Rebounds, 6.9 Assists, 0.9 Steals, 49.5 FG%, 36.6 3PT FG% & 2.5 Turnovers

Kevin Durant - 27.5 Points, 6.6 Rebounds, 5.3 Assists, 0.9 Steals, 1.3 Blocks, 52.6 FG%, 41.4 3PT FG% & 3.3 Turnovers

Bradley Beal - 18.1 Points, 4.1 Rebounds, 5.1 Assists, 0.9 Steal, 50.6 FG%, 37.7 3PT FG% & 2.5 Turnovers

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Scorching Suns:

Our role players have been HUGE for us this week. Just look at these numbers. This level of performance is exactly what we need heading into the last stretch and to the Playoffs.

Eric Gordon

His stats for the week:

11.0 Points, 1.3 Rebounds, 2.7 Assists, 1.0 Steal, 63.2 FG% & 72.7 3PT FG%.

Bol Bol

Bol won the Bol/Wemby battle - what more is there to say?

His stats for the week:

9.3 Points, 3.3 Rebounds, 1.0 Assist, 1.0 Block, 69.2 FG% & 62.5 3PT FG%.

Royce O'Neale

Royce is finally out of his shooting slump 🙌

His stats for the week:

10.3 Points, 4.3 Rebounds, 60.0 FG% & 50.0 3PT FG%.

Grayson Allen

Grayson continues to do his thing, contributing in all areas.

His stats for the week:

17.7 Points, 3.0 Rebounds, 3.3 Assists, 1.0 Steal, 1.0 Block, 58.1 FG% & 54.5 3PT FG%.

Honourable Mention:

Drew Eubanks

His stats for the week:

7.0 Points, 3.7 Rebounds, 2.0 Blocks & 61.5 FG%.

Struggling Suns:

No One

Looking up and down the roster, I think everyone played their part excellently.

Stat Line(s) of the Week:

Devin Booker vs San Antonio Spurs

Game stat line:

32 Points, 7 Rebounds, 9 Assists, 14/24 FGs (58.3%) & 3/7 3PT FGs (42.9%).

Grayson Allen vs Philadelphia 76ers

Grayson hit 9 3's for the X time this season. He is also the 1st Suns player to record 6+ 3's 9 times in a season.

Game stat line:

32 Points, 4 Rebounds, 5 Assists, 1 Steal, 1 Block, 10/17 FGs (58.8%) & 9/15 3PT FGs (60.0%).

Eric Gordon vs Atlanta Hawks

Game stat line:

21 Points, 1 Rebounds, 5 Assists, 2 Steals, 8/11 FGs (72.7%) & 4/6 3PT FGs (66.7%).

Honourable Mention:

Bol Bol vs Wemby, I mean San Antonio Spurs

Game stat line:

13 Points, 4 Rebounds, 1 Assist, 1 Block, 4/5 FGs (80.0%) & 2/2 3PT FGs (100%).

Upcoming Games:

The Darkest Timeline begins.

That's right, this week begins the most difficult part of our season with all remaining games, minus today vs the Spurs being against Playoff teams, in particular title contenders.

Playing the Spurs for the 2nd game in a row, I'm expecting a similar result.

Then we face the defending Champion Denver Nuggets. We faced them a few weeks back and was able to pick up the win, even while missing Devin Booker. With both teams at full strength this will be a fun one. Whoever wins it, takes the season series.

Our last match-up of the week is against the West's number 2 team, the OKC Thunder. Shai has been excellent for them all season and they hold the season series on us 2-0.

Oh, did I mention that these games are also on the road? 😫

Prediction:

We beat the Spurs and lose one of the other games, but I really don't know which one. I going to say we beat the Nuggets but lost to the Thunder.

Predictions League:

Other Suns Stuff:

More Durant Milestones

Against Atlanta Durant hit his 2,000 career 3-pointer. He then followed this up against the Spurs by passing Shaquille O'Neal for the 8th spot on the NBA's all-time scoring list.

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