Miami Can't Stand the Heat of this Suns Team
- Matt Elvy
- Mar 24, 2021
- 2 min read
Phoenix kicks of road trip with a 110 - 100 win over the Miami Heat.
In a game, which on paper, looked to be the toughest of this 4-game eastern road trip, the Suns had no problem dispatching the reigning Eastern Conference Champions. The win gives us our 7th road win in a row, an achievement this team hasn't seen since the 2006-07 season.
Don't let the 110-100 score deceive you - this game was not close. At the half we were up by 15 points and by mid-way through the 3rd quarter we had stretched that to 22 points. The game only got this close at the end when both teams had their bench guys competing in garbage time, as Miami reduced the gap from 20 down to 10 in the last couple of minutes.
Stats from @Viziball_
The game was essentially done after the 3rd quarter. The Suns knew this, as Booker, CP3 and Jae Crowder all sat out the whole final period.
The star of the show was Deandre Ayton who had the type of game we haven't seen since January. We saw glimpses of it in Sunday's game against the Lakers, as he posted 23 points, but his play on both ends in Miami was superb. DA did exactly what we need from him in terms of that defensive presence that too often seems to take games off. All night he smartly stopped people at the rim, using his now patented vertical jump to stop drives to the basket. His 16 rebounds were only his 4th double digit rebounding effort in the last 10 games and the most he's had in over a month.
Ayton finished the game with 17 points, 16 rebounds, 3 assists and 3 blocks.
Booker was the high point man with 23 points, even though he saw no playing time in the 4th. Most of Book's damage came in the 2nd quarter where he had 11 points, including 7 straight points for the Suns.
Torrey Craig had an impressive showing in his 2nd game with the team. He played 20 minutes overall, contributing had 10 points, including 2 of 3 from 3-point land. Craig has seemingly fit right in with this Suns team. He strikes me as a taller Jevon Carter or maybe even Jae Crowder lite.
This win takes us to 29-13 on the season, as we attempt to catch Utah in the standings for the number 1 spot in the West.
Next up is the Orlando Magic tonight, who are missing many players due to injury and are the centre of a lot of trade chatter, with Aaron Gordon and Evan Fournier looking for pastures new.
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