Phoenix Suns - Weekly Roundup - Week 15
- Matt Elvy
- Apr 5, 2021
- 6 min read
Join us as we review the highs and lows of the last week, as well as previewing the week ahead.
Week 15: 29 March - 4 April 2021
Week Record: 3-0
Overall Record: 34-14. 2nd in Western Conference.
Games Played and Results:
W - 117 - 110 Vs Atlanta Hawks
W - 121 - 116 Vs Chicago Bulls
W - 140 - 103 VS OKC Thunder
I genuinely thought we'd lose one of these games, as we do tend to lose against the teams with the weaker records, but I was happily proven wrong. The 4th quarters were still a bit shaky vs the Hawks and Bulls, but we were able to pull out the wins, then of course we completely blew out the young OKC Thunder.
The 3 games were all at home after an eastern road trip, where we were able to extend our win streak to 5 games.
The Suns didn't trail at all against the Hawks, took over the game a few minutes in to the 2nd against the Bulls and then only trailed for 1 possession to open the game against OKC.
Dario got back on form against the Hawks, posting 20 points off the bench and Booker had a season high 45 against the Bulls. He was incredibly efficient in the game connecting on 17 of his 24 shots. Highlights of that performance are linked further down the article.
The OKC game was a complete blowout, which what you expect to see from the 2nd best team in the west. It's a game that allows you to really sit back and appreciate this team and how far we've come since James Jones and Monty Williams started running the show. The +30 margin in Q1 is the largest in any quarter in Suns history.
It was a great game for CP3, as he went 8 of 8 from the field in only 22 minutes, along with 12 assists and 5 rebounds.
Dario Saric also had an historic game, as he hit the 500th 3-pointer of his career. According to the Suns, "He’s the 3rd-fastest player to total both 2,000 rebounds and 500 three-pointers behind only Paul Pierce and Paul George.
Superstar Watch:
Booker - 25.6 Points, 4.1 Rebounds, 4.5 Assists, 0.9 Steals, 49.6 FG%, 35.5 3PT FG%, 3.3 Turnovers
Chris Paul - 16.0 Points, 4.7 Rebounds, 8.7 Assists, 1.4 Steals 49.0 FG%, 36.3 3PT FG%, 2.3 Turnovers
Scorching Suns:
Devin Booker
I don't have Book in this section as much as I probably could, as I like to highlight other guys that are performing well, but I couldn't deny averages of 32.7 Points, 3 Rebounds, 4 Assists on 57.1 FG%, 41.2 3PT FG% and 95 FT%, over this week's 3 games.
Here's a break down of Book scoring per game:
21 points, 3 rebounds, 3 assists, 42 FG%
45 points (season high), 4 rebounds, 4 assists, 70.8 FG%, 40 3PT FG%
32 points, 5 assists, 55 FG%, 60 3PT FG%
Honourable Mention:
Role Players
Last week I highlighted, Jae Crowder, Cam Johnson, Cam Payne and Dario Saric as my Struggling Suns. All but Cam Payne had a fantastic shooting week. Here are the numbers:
Crowder - 61.1 FG% & 62.5 3PT FG%
Johnson - 55.6 FG% & 50.0 3PT FG%
Saric - 65.4 FG% & 53.8 3PT FG%
Struggling Suns:
I found this one quite hard, so going with almost a non-answer.
If you look at shooting numbers, I'd say Cameron Payne, as he shot 43.5% overall and 22.2% from downtown, but his overall play was fine and he was a spark of the bench in other areas. He had 4.7 rebounds and 5.7 assists across the 3 games.
Once again, not really struggling, but did Deandre Ayton just decide to take the Bulls and Thunder games off? In those 2 games, despite the lower competition, Booker and CP3 did not take their foot off the gas and it just feels like Ayton did. I think that sort of sums up his overall mindset as a player.
If you've read my work before, you'll know that I'm not an Ayton hater at all, but something smelt fishy this week. At least in the Playoffs there are only good teams, so you'd hope that won't happen in important games.
Stat Line of the Week:
I genuinely couldn't pick just 1 this week, so I've gone with these 2:
Devin Booker Vs Chicago Bulls
Game stat line:
45 Points (season high), 4 Rebounds, 4 Assists, 17/24 FGs (70.8%), 2/5 3PT FGs (40%)
Chris Paul Vs OKC Thunder
CP3 played just under 22 minutes in this game.
17 Points, 5 Rebounds, 12 assists, 3 steals, 8/8 FGs, 1/1 3PT FG, only 1 turnover.
Videos provided by The Timeline: A Phoenix Suns Channel
Rookie Watch:
Jalen Smith - 1 game this week.
Smith played 7 minutes in the 37 point win against the Bulls, scoring 2 points and grabbing 1 rebound.
Season Stats
16 Games, 4.6 mpg, 1.3 Points, 1.0 Rebounds, 0.1 Assists, 0.1 Blocks, 36.0 FG%
Upcoming Games:
We have 3 games this week.
Starting Monday we head to Houston (13-36) to face the struggling Rockets, while riding a 5 game wining streak. They have not been the Rockets team we've been used to seeing the last few years, especially since MVP candidate James Harden was traded to the Brooklyn Nets. Things have become so bad in Houston, that the prize for that trade, Victor Oladipo, was traded to the Miami Heat at the trade deadline.
We won the last game against these guys in a 106 - 103 victory. I don't expect Monday's game to be anywhere near that close.
Then we face the league leading Utah Jazz (38-11) on Wednesday. This will be a true test for us, as we try to close the gap in the standings on them. Utah currently hold a 3.5 game advantage over us in that aspect. We have played well against +.500 teams this season and both sides match up well against one another, so this one looks to be a clash of the titans.
In the previous match-up, played in Utah, we took an 11 point victory.
We'll be at home for this one, so let's hope the (small) crowd can sway the momentum our way. I always see the Jazz match-up as a night for Booker to prove how much better than Donovan Mitchell he is.
Next we hit the road again, heading to LA to face the Clippers (33-18) on Thursday - the second of a back-to-back. The Clip sit 2.5 games behind us, sitting in 3rd. They are missing a key piece in Serge Ibaka, but still have 2 of the best wings manning the wings in Kawhi Leonard and Paul George.
Last game we took a 5 point defeat, with Paul George exploding for 39 points, but this was during the rough early January patch we went through.
The Clippers game will be shown live on Sky Sports here in the UK.
Last game of the week is Sunday on the road in Washington to face the Wizards (17-31). It's a game you'd expect us to take the W on, but we all remember how that went, as they blew us out by 21. I still believe that our guys didn't want to get too close to the Wizards players in that game due to the Covid controversy that surrounded them, which seemed to be the right thing to do, as we missed the next 3 games due to Covid Health and Safety protocols.
It's a tough week to predict. I think the easy answer is 2-2, however I think we'll take one of either the Jazz or Clippers games (probably Clippers), so I'll say 3-1.
Any Other Business:
Coach of the Month
Congratulations to Monty Williams who won the NBA Coach of the Month award for March.
He led the Suns to a 10-3 record, as we tightened our grip on the 2nd spot in the West
National media attention
Well this makes a change. We've had Stephen A Smith yelling that people shouldn't sleep on us, along with an interview with CP3 and Deandre Ayton talking to Rachel Nicols on ESPN's The Jump.
It annoys me that a matter of months ago these same media outlets we're calling us frauds and writing us off, but that's how the NBA media merry-go-round works I suppose.
Go On My Suns!
This past Friday we held our 5th Go On My Suns! Instagram Live show. This week we met TJ and his story is a must see/listen.
You can catch the replay on our Instagram page - make sure you're following to be notified when we go live.
This coming week we hope to have another guest, so come over and join us. We'll be back this Friday at 7PM (UK time).
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