Around the Suns - Weekly Roundup - Week 4

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

Week 4: 11-17 November 2024

Week Record: 1-3

Overall Record: 9-5. 5th in the Western Conference.

Games Played and Results:

W - 120 - 112 Vs Utah Jazz

L - 127 - 104 Vs Sacramento Kings

L - 83 - 99 Vs OKC Thunder

L - 117 - 120 Vs Minnesota Timberwolves

Centre of The Sun

The injury bug well and truly hit the Suns this week and the timing wasn't great. Knowing we'd be missing Kevin Durant while heading into our first extended road trip against some tough competition, it was looking bleak anyway, but then everyone else started dropping like flies.

Bradley Beal is still working part time so far this season, only managing 1 game before getting a calf strain (the same injury as KD). Nurk missed the Kings game with an ankle sprain, which hindered him the rest of the week and Grayson missed 2 games with hamstring soreness.

As expected, Utah was the easiest game of the week. The score shows an 8 point win, but that's only because Utah started intentionally fouling to reduce the deficit, as tie breakers in the NBA Cup are decided by point margin. The win took a big game from Book, who completely took over in the 4th quarter with 15 points and hitting 4/5 from three. He finished with 31 points. He was supported by 24 from Beal and a 15 point, 14 rebound game from Plumlee, starting in place of the injured Nurkic.

I thought we might get some pay back against Sacramento, but they handily beat us, shooting 64% for the game! Sacramento were able to put all their defensive pressure on Book in this one and being the unselfish player he is, he did the right thing and passed to his teammates, the only problem the Sacramento rims denied loads of the good looks the Suns generated. Okogie was the only player that was able to get themselves going. He grabbed a career high 6 offensive rebounds and finished with 25 points.

Next was the Thunder and the story was similar to the Kings, as they were able to put pressure on Book, throwing double teams at him all night. Once again, Book dished to his teammates, but once again, they couldn't get the shots to go down. OKC were so effective that Book didn't score until the 3rd quarter and finished with only 10 field goal attempts. To be fair, both teams were terrible at scoring in this one, but with Book having a bad night, plus no other Sun able to step-up, we were done for.

After 2 games where he struggled, Book came out with a vengeance against the Timberwolves, scoring 17 in the 1st quarter. He finished the half with 27 points and the game with a season high 44. Coach Bud started a very odd line-up, having Nurkic and Plumlee alongside each other. There as a collective, "WTF?!" on social media when the starters were announced. It only bloody worked though. The Suns threw double teams at Minnesota and built a 17 point lead. Book was incredible, but in the 2nd half and particularly the 4th, Julius Randle and Anthony Edwards woke up and caught fire. With the game tied with 2 seconds left, Randle got the ball at the top, pushed Okogie to the floor (a clear foul), and hit a 3 to lift Minnesota to victory. It was a heartbreaker watching live, as the Suns had played so well and deserved the victory. Oso was able to show off his basketball IQ in this game, making very intelligent reads and making all the right plays. He finished with a career high 11 points. The game also saw the return of Allen from injury and he was excellent contributing 4 three pointers en route to 18 points.

Superstar Watch (Season stats):

Devin Booker - 24.0 Points, 3.9 Rebounds, 6.6 Assists, 1.1 Steals, 43.4 FG%, 35.5 3PT FG% & 2.1 Turnovers

Kevin Durant - 27.6 Points, 6.6 Rebounds, 3.4 Assists, 0.8 Steals, 1.4 Blocks, 55.3 FG%, 42.9 3PT FG% & 3.3 Turnovers

Bradley Beal - 17.8 Points, 4.0 Rebounds, 3.7 Assists, 1.4 Steals, 0.9 Blocks, 47.5 FG%, 38.3 3PT FG% & 1.3 Turnovers

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Scorching Suns:

Grayson Allen

Even though he missed 2 games last week, Grayson Allen was 2nd on the team in made three's, with 8. Only Booker made more three's than Grayson.

His stats for the week:

16.5 Points, 3.0 Rebounds, 55.0 FG% & 50.0 3PT FG%

Honourable Mentions:

Oso Ighodaro

Consistent minutes this week meant Oso was able to put in some solid performances.

His stats for the week:

6.8 Points, 5.8 Rebounds, 0.8 Assists, 0.5 Steals, 0.8 Blocks & 62.5 FG%

Struggling Suns:

Jusuf Nurkic

The Nurk-a-coaster continues. Unfortunately an ankle injury has put him here this week. He probably shouldn't have been playing and have his ankle heal first, but I think he pushed through because we were already short-handed.

His stats for the week:

4.0 Points, 8.7 Rebounds, 0.7 Assists, 1.0 Steal, 15.8 FG% & 11.1 3PT FG%

Stat Line(s) of the Week:

Devin Booker vs Minnesota Timberwolves

To go along with the season high 44 points, Book had 27 points in the 1st half alone, which is a season high for points in a half.

Game stat line:

44 Points, 6 Rebounds, 7 Assists, 1 Block, 15/29 FGs (51.7%) & 6/13 3PT FGs (46.2%).

Devin Booker vs Utah Jazz

Book started the week hot and led us to victory in our 1st NBA Cup game.

Game stat line:

31 Points, 2 Rebounds, 4 Assist, 2 Steals, 2 Blocks, 11/20 FGs (55.0%) & 5/9 3PT FGs (55.6%).

Honourable Mention:

Bradley Beal vs Utah Jazz

Brad's only game of the week was a good one for him. It was his 2nd 20+ point game in a row. It's a shame he got hurt in this one.

Game stat line:

24 Points, 3 Rebounds, 4 Assists, 2 Steals, 1 Block, 8/15FGs (53.3%) & 4/7 3PT FGs (57.1%).

Josh Okogie vs Sacramento Kings

Josh was able to take advantage of all the defensive attention on Book in this one. It's a shame that one of his best efforts as a Sun came in a loss.

Game stat line:

25 Points, 8 Rebounds, 1 Assist, 2 Steals, 10/15 FGs (66.7%) & 3/4 3PT FGs (75.0%).

Mason Plumlee vs Utah Jazz

Game stat line:

15 Points, 14 Rebounds, 2 Assists, 1 Block, & 6/9 FGs (66.7%).

Rookie Watch (Season stats):

Ryan Dunn - 13 games, 7 starts

7.0 Points, 2.4 Rebounds, 0.6 Assists, 0.5 Steals, 0.5 Blocks, 43.9 FG%, 32.7 3PT FG% & 0.5 Turnovers

With KD out, Ryan was in the starting line-up all this week. He's cooled off from 3, but shooting slumps are to be expected.

Oso Igodharo - 4 games

4.0 Points, 3.8 Rebounds, 0.4 Assists, 0.2 Steals, 0.4 Blocks, 60.9 FG%, 0.0 3PT FG% (0 attempts) & 0.7 Turnovers

Oso played in every game this week. With Bud going with length, he was even the first substitute into the game against the Timberwolves. He had a career high 11 points against Minnesota and grabbed career high 12 rebounds against Utah.

Jalen Bridges - 2 games

0.5 Points, 0.5 Rebounds, 0.0 Assists, 0.0 Steals, 0.0 Blocks, 0.0 FG%, 0.0 3PT FG% & 1.0 Turnovers

Jalen made his debut this week and scored his first career point via a free throw.

Upcoming Games:

Only 2 games this week, as we debut our new City Edition kits and court. After this there's a 6 day break before our next game and it's very much needed, so the team can heal up.

Here are the UK tip-off times:

The Magic, although missing Paolo Banchero, have been playing very well this season. Orlando are currently on a 5-game win streak and have had a few days rest heading into tonight, as we're their 1st stop on their West Coast road trip. They'll be looking to start on a good note and will use their energy to try and run us out of the building

The Knicks are next and as of writing have won 2 in a row against Nets and are about to face Wizards, so will probably have won 3 in a row by the time they come to Phoenix. Like the Magic, we're the 1st stop on their road trip.

With all their roster changes, New York got off to a rocky start, but they're starting to come together now. Expect them to throw a mixture of Mikal, Anunoby and Hart at Book all night on the defensive end.

Prediction:

Both games are going to be tough and I have no idea whether Beal will be back or not. I'm going to assume that he will come back. I think Orlando will have the legs on us and although the Knicks have the wings to make things very difficult for Book, Beal will hopefully be there to alleviate the pressure. I think we lose to Orlando, but beat the Knicks.

Predictions League:

Other Suns Stuff:

Valley Suns Kick-off Inaugural Season

The Valley Suns are 2 games deep into their season. Both match-ups were against the Santa Cruz Warriors, where each team took a win. The Suns two-way players, Bridges and Washington Jr have led the charge so far both dropping 20+ in each game.

In their win, Washington Jr got the franchise's first (if you ignore the former NAZ Suns) 30 point game and first double-double, with 10 assists.

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