Phoenix Suns - Weekly Roundup - Week 13
- Matt Elvy
- Jan 17, 2022
- 6 min read
Join us as we review the highs and lows of the last week, as well as previewing the week ahead.
Week 13: 10 - 16 January 2022
Week Record: 3-0
Overall Record: 33-9. 1st in Western Conference & NBA.
Games Played and Results:
W - 99 - 95 Vs Toronto Raptors
W - 112 - 94 Vs Indiana Pacers
W - 135 - 108 Vs Detroit Pistons
Going to Toronto, with the Raptors on a 6 game win streak was always going to be tough, but this game was so close throughout that the Suns biggest lead of only 6, didn't come until the 4th quarter.
The style of the game was right up Toronto's street, being a gritty game, where they hustled all night. This hustle is demonstrated by their 22 offensive rebounds, 9 of them coming from just Boucher. Despite this, the Suns were able to keep themselves in the game with better 3-point shooting than the Raptors and then down the stretch, well this team's clutch-ness was on full display, with Chris Paul, Booker & Ayton all hitting free throws to close out the game.
Also - move aside Robin Lopez, there's a new mascot bully in town!
2nd road game, 2nd win, however it wasn't an easy one for the Suns as only a couple of guys were able to put the ball in the basket. Deandre Ayton controlled the 1st half, scoring 21 of his 27 overall points and grabbing 8 of his 12 rebounds.
Booker struggled in that half, but that all changed in the 3rd as he exploded for 22 points, shooting 4 of 6 from 3 and 8 of 12 overall.
The 4th quarter belonged to the Point God, as he rattled off 10 points and 4 assists. The outburst was apparently thanks to a Pacers fan trash talking him for his lack of scoring at that point. He finished the game with 12 points and 9 assists.
Being his hometown State, Booker decided he would put on a show in Detroit. He opened the game scorching hot with 15 in the 1st quarter and 21 of his 30 points in the 1st half. He didn't play at all in the 4th quarter.
The game stayed quite close through to the middle of the 2nd quarter, but the Suns led by 10 at halftime and had ballooned that lead to 21 by the end of the 3rd.
We didn't leave the game unscathed though, as Deandre Ayton picked up an ankle sprain in the 1st quarter and didn't return. As of writing there's been no update of his condition heading in to Monday's game in San Antonio.
Superstar Watch (Season stats):
Booker - 23.9 Points, 5.3 Rebounds, 4.4 Assists, 0.9 Steals, 44.2 FG%, 40.4 3PT FG%, 2.6 Turnovers
Chris Paul - 13.9 Points, 4.3 Rebounds, 9.9 Assists, 1.9 Steals 47.3 FG%, 32.2 3PT FG%, 2.3 Turnovers
Scorching Suns:
Jae Crowder
Jae has been on hire from 3 this week and set a season high 19 points against Toronto, while tying a season high 5 3-pointers. He also grabbed 11 rebounds in back-to-back games against Indiana and Detroit.
His stats for the week:
12.0 Points, 9.0 Rebounds, 2.3 Assist, 1.7 Steal, 50.0 FG% & 58.8 3PT FG%.
Cameron Payne
Payne has unfortunately appeared as my Struggling Sun more than any other player this season, so it's awesome to see him have a great week.
His stats for the week:
17.7 Points, 2.0 Rebounds, 2.3 Assists, 62.5 FG% & 50.0 3PT FG%.
Struggling Suns:
Jalen Smith
Smith did an admiral job starting in place of Ayton and McGee while they were out with Covid. Monty has rewarded him with minutes off the bench at power forward, covering for Cam Johnson, who has been out with a sprained ankle and, well it just isn't working is it? Smith is a centre, so can we stop this PF experiment now please?
His stats for the week:
3.3 Points, 8.0 Rebounds, 0.3 Assists, 23.1 FG% & 20.0 3PT FG%.
Stat Line(s) of the Week:
Devin Booker Vs Detroit Pistons
Game stat line:
30 Points, 4 Rebounds, 4 Assists, 1 Steal, 2 Blocks & 11/18 FGs (61.1%).
Deandre Ayton Vs Indiana Pacers
Game stat line:
27 Points, 12 Rebounds, 2 Steals, 1 Block, 12/18 FGs (66.7%) & 1/1 3PT FGs (100%).
Honourable mentions:
JaVale McGee Vs Detroit Pistons
Game stat line:
20 Points, 6 Rebounds, 1 Block & 9/10 FGs (90%)
Booker's 3rd Quarter Vs Indiana Pacers
Quarter stat line:
22 Points, 1 Assist, 8/12 FGs (66.7%) & 4/6 3PT FGs (66.7%).
Upcoming Games:
We have 3 games this week.
The road trip continues as straight after Sunday's Pistons game, we have a game in San Antonio. I was initially a bit concerned having a back-to-back with a big flight across the country in between. Luckily the Pistons game started very early (1pm in Detroit) and didn't stretch the team too much, so my hope is that the travel won't impact them.
As always with the Spurs, it's going to be a hard fought game. Dejounte Murray is playing at an All-Star level for the Spurs averaging 19.1 points, 8.4 rebounds and 8.9 assists.
Next we head to Dallas. They've once again been putting up with injuries this season to key players. Despite this, they hold the 5th spot in the West and are 8-2 over their last 10 games.
As we saw in last weeks game we are certainly able to beat the Pacers. We'll be back at home for this one and that's about all I have to say, without repeating what I said last week.
Predictions:
I'm feeling confident this week, despite Spurs being the 2nd of a back-to-back, Ayton's ankle sprain and facing a Superstar like Luka. 3 wins!
Predictions League:
Any Other Business:
Franchise Record Inbound?
Friday's game vs the Pacers was the official mid-point of the season. The win took us to a 32-9 record, which means this team could be on track to win 64 games. 64 wins would be a franchise record.
The current record of 62 wins is held by both the legendary teams from 1992-93 & 2004-05.
Book Vs The Raptor
So this blew up didn't it?
If you didn't see it, in the closing minutes of the Raptors game, their mascot tried distracting Book while at the free throw line. The ref moved the Raptor out the way. What the videos on social media don't show you is how everyone at the game found it funny.
Book, ever the media savvy guy, set the mascot as his Twitter profile pic.
It was a really funny moment in a game where the arena was void of any fans. The bit I don't like is that our win and the Warriors loss broke the deadlock between the 2 teams, giving us the number 1 spot.
"I Am Not Kobe Bryant"
Asked by Kellen Olson about the reaction on social media to the above incident and said he enjoys social media, apart from all the comparisons to Kobe Bryant. You can see the full clip here:
All-Star Fan Vote Returns
On Thursday the NBA released the 2nd round of NBA All-Star fan votes.
Booker remained in 5th among the West guards. CP3 is still in the top 10, but has fallen 1 place below Russell Westbrook?! to 7th.
Deandre Ayton remained in 10th place amongst the West frontcourt.
Ankle Injuries
Cam Johnson missed all games this past week with a sprained ankle he picked up against Miami.
Deandre Ayton sprained his ankle in the 1st quarter against the Pistons and did not return for the rest of the game. As of writing there has been no update on his status for the game tonight or the rest of the week.
Trade Rumours
Michael Scotto of HoopsHype wrote, regarding the Boston Celtics last week:
They've made several calls doing due diligence, including to Phoenix regarding Jalen Smith's availability
I'm not sure what's going to happen with Smith. As I've said before in the Roundup, I wasn't sure that Jalen had NBA level talent. He's obviously proved over the last month that he does, so has this caused his trade value to rise?
I think the reason the Suns declined his team option was because they didn't believe his stock would rise, so would dangle him as an expiring contract at the deadline instead. Has this plan now back-fired, as lower, rebuilding teams may not want to take on a prospect they now have now hold over this Summer?
All we can do is wait, I guess.
Moving & Shaking
Paris Bass was re-signed to a 2nd 10-day hardship contract.
Go On My Suns!
The Instagram show will be back. If you would like to come on the show, please send me a message via Twitter or Instagram.
You can catch all the replays on our Instagram page - make sure you're following to be notified when we go live.
Thank you for reading. Please like, comment below what you think and share on social media.
To make sure you never miss a post, you can also subscribe to us.
You can also use the code 'SUNSFANSUK' on The Throwback Store to receive a 10% discount on any order you make.
Comments