Around the Suns - Weekly Roundup - Week 23

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

Week 23: 24-30 March

Week Record: 1-3

Overall Record: 35-40. 11th in the Western Conference.

Games Played and Results:

W - 108 - 106 Vs Milwaukee Bucks

L - 102 - 132 Vs Boston Celtics

L - 109 - 124 Vs Minnesota Timberwolves

L - 109 - 148 Vs Houston Rockets

Centre of The Sun

Last week in "Around the Suns":

The Suns are fun again 🙌 (for now)

-Matt Elvy, March 2025

Why did I type this last week? Why did I do this to myself? I got my hopes up and the Suns have let me down again.

The week started well, beating the Bucks. It was a fun game, where Durant won the duel with Giannis to the tune of 38 points. Book also had a double-double and the game winning shot, then of course, we had THAT dunk by Ryan Dunn!

We understandably lost to the Champion Celtics, but we let our usual terrible defence and turnover issues allow it to become a blowout, even with Boston missing Jayson Tatum, we couldn't overcome their depth or ourselves.

Against the Timberwolves it was much the muchness, Edwards played with his usual swag, despite getting hit in the face. Richards failed again when playing against a good big man (Gobert) and we had no answer for Julius Randle. The lone bright spot in the game was career highs in points (22) and assists (10) for Collin Gillespie.

The worst game of the week for me and season to be honest, was the loss to the Rockets, as we gave up the most points in regulation time all season. For perspective 2 of our overtime games we allowed 149 and 151 points. The big news out of this one was of course KD's injury, where he sprained his ankle in the 2nd quarter. Booker tried to keep us in it, netting 28 points, but no one else, apart from Monte Morris in garbage time and Durant before the injury, scored in double digits.

Other Suns Stuff

KD Injury Update

Following the game Coach Bud said that Durant would get an MRI the next daily and would not join them for the start of their road trip. It was confirmed on Monday that KD will be out for at least a week and will not go with the team on the East road trip.

Have we just seen Kevin Durant's last game as a Sun?

Jones Assisting

Against the Rockets, Tyus hit the 3000 assist mark for his career.

G-League Suns - Playoffs

In their first season, the G-League Suns have made the Playoffs.

They will face the Santa Cruz Warriors in Round 1. The game is today 3am (Wednesday morning).

Mind the Game Podcast

The podcast that got JJ Redick his Head Coaching job is back, but this time LeBron James is joined by a new co-host: 2x MVP, Phoenix Suns Legend, Steve Nash.

The 1st episode is live now.

Superstar Watch (Season stats):

Devin Booker - 25.3 Points, 4.1 Rebounds, 7.0 Assists, 0.9 Steals, 45.7 FG%, 33.9 3PT FG% & 2.9 Turnovers

Kevin Durant - 26.6 Points, 6.0 Rebounds, 4.2 Assists, 0.8 Steals, 1.2 Blocks, 52.7 FG%, 43.0 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:

Kevin Durant

His stats for the week:

25.5 Points, 5.5 Rebounds, 2.5 Assists, 1.3 Blocks, 50.7 FG% & 63.6 3PT FG%

Struggling Suns:

Devin Booker

After a couple of weeks where he was playing some of his best basketball of the season, Book really struggled this past week. He only managed to hit 2 of his 21 3-point attempts.

The team needed more from him considering the competition we faced.

His stats for the week:

17.8 Points, 4.3 Rebounds, 7.8 Assists, 43.5 FG%, 9.5 3PT FG% & 4.0 TOs

Stat Line(s) of the Week:

Kevin Durant Vs Milwaukee Bucks

KD carried us in this big win over the Bucks, netting 38 points, 1 night after his 42 points against the Cavaliers.

Game stat line:

38 Points, 8 Rebounds, 5 Assists, 3 Blocks, 11/21 FGs (52.4%) & 7/9 3PT FGs (77.8%)

Collin Gillespie vs Minnesota Timberwolves

Collin posted career highs in points and assists. He did so on brilliant shooting percentages, while also tying his career high of 4 3-pointers.

Game stat line:

22 Points, 5 Rebounds, 10 Assists, 9/11 FGs (81.8%) & 4/5 3PT FGs (80.0%).

Rookie Watch (Season stats):

Ryan Dunn - 67 games, 37 starts

6.5 Points, 3.3 Rebounds, 0.7 Assists, 0.5 Steals, 0.6 Blocks, 43.5 FG%, 31.7 3PT FG% & 0.5 Turnovers

Oso Igodharo - 54 games, 3 starts

3.8 Points, 3.5 Rebounds, 1.1 Assists, 0.4 Steals, 0.4 Blocks, 59.7 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:

At this point the season feels over for the Suns. They have the toughest remaining schedule in the NBA - this week looks brutal and they're missing Durant and Beal (I'll let you decide whether Beal is a + or -).

Prediction:

I don't have any more hope to give. I think we'll lose all 3 games this week.

Predictions League:

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