Phoenix Suns - Weekly Roundup - Week 16
- Matt Elvy
- Apr 12, 2021
- 5 min read
Join us as we review the highs and lows of the last week, as well as previewing the week ahead.
Week 16: 5 April - 11 April 2021
Week Record: 3-1
Overall Record: 37-15. 2nd in Western Conference & NBA.
Games Played and Results:
W - 133 - 130 Vs Houston Rockets
W - 117 - 113 Vs Utah Jazz OT
L - 103 - 113 Vs LA Clippers
W - 134 - 106 Vs Washington Wizards
I predicted our record right - go me! I thought that we'd probably lose to the Jazz though, but nope, we beat the number 1 team, in a race for the number 1 spot.
It was without a doubt the best win of the season, maybe even of the last few seasons. It means that we've won the tiebreaker, so if we have the same record come season's end, we would be the higher seed and have homecourt in a potential playoff series.
Houston was closer than anyone could have expected, it took all of Booker's 36 points, 16 points in the 4th quarter, including a personal 10-0 scoring run, to steer the ship home in that one. Hopefully tonight's rematch is nowhere near as close.
The Clippers game was a bit of a disappointment, but there are positives. LA hit 18 of their 37 3-point attempts and are shooting 53% across our 2 matchups this season. I doubt that would happen in a playoff series. On the other hand we really struggled from 3, only shooting 6 of 24. If we had hit just 3 or 4 more shots from downtown, the result could have been completely different.
The week's final game against Washington, went as it should with a 26 point blowout. The Suns set a franchise record, as they had only 3, yes 3 turnovers for the whole game. There isn't really much more to say on that one. Oh, Westbrook had another useless triple double.
Superstar Watch:
Booker - 26.0 Points, 4.1 Rebounds, 4.5 Assists, 0.9 Steals, 49.4 FG%, 35.7 3PT FG%, 3.2 Turnovers
Chris Paul - 16.2 Points, 4.7 Rebounds, 8.7 Assists, 1.4 Steals 49.1 FG%, 36.2 3PT FG%, 2.3 Turnovers
Scorching Suns:
Deandre Ayton
Ayton was simply great this week, averaging 19.3 points, 10.8 rebounds, 1.5 assists, 1.8 blocks, 1 steal, 68.6 FG% & 87.5% from the free throw line (though he only got to the free throw line in 1 game - such an Ayton type stat).
Here are his per game stats:
27 points, 11 rebounds, 2 blocks, 10/14 FGs (71.4%)
18 points, 12 rebounds, 3 blocks, 2 steals, 9/16 FGs (56.3%)
18 points, 10 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 block, 9/11 FGs (81.8%)
14 points, 10 rebounds, 1 block, 2 steals, 7/10 FGs (70%)
Honourable Mention:
Devin Booker
Dude is balling at the moment. last week he averaged 30.5 points on 46.6% shooting.
In the 4 games he scored 36, 35, 24 & 27.
Struggling Suns:
Dario Saric
Dario has been soooo up and down this season and unfortunately last week was a down.
His shooting percentage have dropped in all areas - 28.6 FG%, 16.7 3PT FG% & 62.5 FT%
He clearly struggles with confidence issues and I hope he finds himself again very soon, as we don't have anyone else to back up Ayton at the center position.
Stat Line of the Week:
I didn't know who yo choose, but I knew that it'd be a stat line from Monday's high scoring Rockets game.
I went with Devin Booker, as we needed every point, rebound and assist that Mr Booker produced.
Game stat line:
36 Points, 6 Rebounds, 6 Assists, 11/20 FGs (55%), 6/8 3PT FGs (75%)
Honourable mentions:
Deandre Ayton Vs Houston
27 points, 11 rebounds, 2 blocks, 10/14 FGs (71.4%)
Chris Paul Vs OKC Thunder
19 Points, 5 Rebounds, 11 assists, 4 steals, 6/9 FGs, 3/5 3PT FG.
Rookie Watch:
Jalen Smith - 2 games this week.
Smith saw time against the Clippers and Wizards this week, totalling 5 and half minutes and 2 points.
Season Stats
16 Games, 4.4 mpg, 0.9 Points, 1.0 Rebounds, 0.1 Assists, 0.1 Blocks, 37.0 FG%
Upcoming Games:
We have 4 games this week.
All 4 games this week are at home and for the second Monday in a row we face the Houston Rockets (14-39). The game was a little too close for comfort last week, with Booker having to take control in the 4th quarter, but I expect another win here.
One night after on Tuesday we face the Heat (28-25). This could be a game that we struggle in. We beat Miami in March, but this being the 2nd night of a back-to-back and the Heat being an improved team recently, it could be a tough one. Hopefully we can blowout Houston and let our guys get some rest at the end of that one.
Thursday see the Kings (22-31) visit Phoenix. This is the last game in the series, where we faced Sacramento 2 nights in a row at the beginning of the season and split the games. Suns are a much better team now, having bonded as the season has progressed. I don't see there being any surprise results in this one.
Saturday sees our 1st match-up of the season against our historical nemesis, the Spurs (25-26). San Antonio are hovering around .500 this season, but a win against the Spurs is always satisfying for us longer tenured Suns fans.
I can see us going 4-0 this week and I've been saying it for a while, but we need as many win now, as starting next week we start our toughest stretch of games of the season. We have a 5-game east road trip, where we face the Bucks, 76ers, Celtics, the Nets and the Knicks, before coming home to face the Clippers and Jazz.
Any Other Business:
WINNERS!
With the win over the Washington Wizards, the Suns clinched their first winning record since 2014. That means that we could lose all 20 of our remaining games and still have a +500 record.
Damn it feels good to be a Suns fan right now!
Power Rankings
The NBA.com Power Rankings were published earlier and the Suns are number 1. It's great to see us getting the respect we deserve. You can read the rankings here.
Go On My Suns!
This past Friday we held our 5th Go On My Suns! Instagram Live show. This week we met Alex. Please help him in his search for a jersey - watch and you'll hear more on that.
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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