Phoenix Suns - Weekly Roundup - Week 21
- Matt Elvy
- Mar 13, 2023
- 4 min read
Join us as we review the highs and lows of the last week, as well as previewing the week ahead.
Week 21: 6-12 March 2023
Week Record: 1-1
Overall Record: 37-30. 4th in the Western Conference.
Games Played and Results:
W - 105 - 91 Vs OKC Thunder
L - 119 - 128 Vs Sacramento Kings
Centre of The Sun
After only 3 games with the Suns, Kevin Durant picked up a freak ankle sprain during warm-ups, before the OKC game.
I won't post the video, as you've probably seen it (and it makes this writer feel like puking), but it was from a simple, non-contact layup.
The Suns let the media know that he suffered a sprained ankle and would be re-evaluated in 3-weeks.
The good news is that after the incident, Durant continues his workout and James Jones spoke to the media at the weekend and stated, "If the playoffs started today, he’d be out there".
After picking up the NBA Western Conference Player of the Week award last week, Book continued his hot offense, scoring 44 and 28 points in each of the games. This gave him an average of 36 points for the 2nd consecutive week. More on that further down.
Book's 44 point game against OKC was his 4th game in a row for 35+ points. This is another Suns franchise record for him to add to his list of others.
Superstar Watch (Season stats):
Devin Booker - 27.7 Points, 4.6 Rebounds, 5.9 Assists, 0.9 Steal, 49.1 FG%, 36.9 3PT FG% & 2.5 Turnovers
Kevin Durant - 29.5 Points, 6.8 Rebounds, 5.2 Assists, 0.8 Steal, 1.5 Blocks, 56.6 FG%, 38.6 3PT FG% & 3.4 Turnovers
Deandre Ayton - 18.2 Points, 10.2 Rebounds, 1.9 Assists, 0.6 Steals, 0.8 Blocks, 59.2 FG%, 30.4 3PT FG% & 1.9 Turnovers
Chris Paul - 13.6 Points, 4.3 Rebounds, 9.1 Assists, 1.6 Steals, 43.1 FG%, 37.3 3PT FG% & 2.0 Turnovers
Scorching Suns:
Devin Booker
Book continued his streak of 35+ point games in the win over OKC with 44 points. He then followed this with 28 in the loss to Sacramento. For the 2nd week in a row he averaged 36 points, but this time with 66% shooting!
His stats for the week:
36.0 Points, 3.0 Rebounds, 6.0 Assists, 2.0 Steals, 0.5 Blocks, 66.7 FG% & 50.0 3PT FG%.
Terrence Ross
We Suns fans finally saw why Ross has, "The Human Torch" as a nickname. He was genuinely on fire this week, especially against OKC.
His stats for the week:
21.0 Points, 1.5 Rebounds, 1.5 Assists, 2.0 Steals, 57.7 FG% & 50.0 3PT FG%.
Struggling Suns:
Torrey Craig
Craig is back in the starting line-up with KD being out and despite being solid most of the season, at 39%, his 3-point shooting was awful last week.
His stats for the week:
24.7 Mins, 3.5 Points, 6.0 Rebounds, 1.5 Assists, 1.0 Steal, 1.0 Block, 25.0 FG% & 16.7 3PT FG%.
Stat Line(s) of the Week:
Devin Booker vs OKC Thunder
Game stat line:
44 Points, 3 Rebounds, 4 Assists, 1 Block, 17/23 FGs (73.9%) & 6/10 3PT FGs (60.0%).
Chris Paul vs OKC Thunder
Game stat line:
18 Points, 9 Rebounds, 9 Assists, 4 Steals, 6/8 FGs (75.0%) & 4/5 3PT FGs (80.0%).
Honourable mentions:
Chris Paul vs Sacramento Kings
His shooting wasn't great, but 16 assists is ridiculous.
Game stat line:
16 Points, 6 Rebounds, 16 Assists, 1 Steal, 6/13 FGs (46.2%) & 2/9 3PT FGs (22.2%).
Terrance Ross vs OKC Thunder
Game stat line:
24 Points, 2 Rebounds, 2 Assists, 2 Steals, 8/13 FGs (61.5%) & 6/10 3PT FGs (60.0%).
Upcoming Games:
We have 4 games this week and all of them look to be fairly tough.
The week kicks off with the toughest 2 games away against the Warriors today (Monday) and then at home against the Bucks on Tuesday. Not only are the Bucks the best team in the league, but we have to face them one night after a Warriors team that has Curry back.
We've won all 3 match-ups against the Warriors so far, but in each game they've been missing a key player. Golden State are only 2-3 over their last 5 games, but did just pick up a win vs the Bucks.
As I've said the Bucks are the best team in the league at the moment and have only lost twice in their last 20 games. That included beating us a few weekends ago, without Giannis.
Next we have the young Orlando Magic visiting. This should be a win, but they are big and talented. It'd be good to see Ross have a big game against his former team.
Sunday is a nice early tip-off for us UK and Euro fans. The game kicks off our last extended road-trip of the season - 3 games. We faced an SGA-less Thunder last week and took the W, let's hope we can do the same again.
Predictions:
I'm going to go with 3 wins this week against the Warriors, Magic and Thunder. The Bucks on the 2nd night of a back-to-back could be too much for us, while not at full strength.
Predictions League:
Any Other Business:
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