Phoenix Suns - Weekly Roundup - Week 25

Join us as we review the highs and lows of the last week, as well as previewing the week ahead.

Week 25: 4th - 10th April 2022

Week Record: 2-2

Overall Record: 64-18. 1st in Western Conference & NBA.

Games Played and Results:

W - 121 - 110 Vs Los Angeles Lakers

L - 109 - 113 Vs LA Clippers

W - 111 - 105 Vs Utah Jazz

L - 109 - 116 Vs Sacramento Kings

NEW FRANCHISE RECORD!!!

63 wins! This makes our current Suns team the most successful in franchise history, beating out the '92-93 Barkley team and the '04-05 Nash team who both had 62 win seasons.

AND, and the win came against the Lakers, simultaneously knocking them out of the Play-in and therefore the Playoffs.

I know this is a bit of my inferiority complex coming through, but getting this win against them made me oh so happy!

There was a lot of rest for our key guys this week. In fact the 2 losses we took were games where we rested, Devin Booker, Chris Paul, Deandre Ayton, Jae Crowder & Cam Payne.

However, these guys were not going to miss a showdown against the Lakers and as discussed above the win record was there for the taking.

The Suns did nothing particularly stand-out against the Lakers, they just played their game within their system, like they have all season and easily took the big W. They used one of their signature 3rd quarters to take the lead from 5 at half time to 18 going in to the 4th.

Davis and Westbrook played most of the 4th quarter, while no Suns starters played at all, but the Lakers were never able to make the end interesting.

The team then flew to LA to face the Clippers. All starters bar Bridges were rested for this one. The 1st half was ugly, as we managed 31 points and only 9 in the 2nd quarter. The Clippers however were at 60 going in to half time. The 3rd got a bit better, outscoring the Clippers 30-27, but the 4th is where things really picked up.

The Suns almost had the greatest comeback in NBA history. Down by 39 in the 3rd, the Suns, led by Wainwright's career high 20 points all coming in the 4th, got the Clipper's lead all the way down to 4 in the closing moments. Aaron Holiday, who didn't play in the 1st half, added 16 points, 6 rebounds & 7 assists as part of the comeback. After the game Monty said that he wished he'd played Holiday in the 1st half.

They didn't complete the comeback, but the guys that played should be hugely proud of what they achieved.

All starters were back to face the Jazz and Utah led for the vast majority of this game, being up by 17 heading in to the 4th. The problem for Utah though is that the Suns got the game to within 5 points, with under 5 minutes to go and we all know what that means.

Bridges completely locked up Mitchell in the 4th and led the team with 9 points in the period. The Jazz just could not stop the guy from cutting and getting easy shots at the rim. CP3 was of course also involved, assisting on all 4 of our final 4 buckets over the last 2 minutes.

Last game of the week and of the regular season against the Kings saw all the aforementioned players resting. Mikal played to keep his games played streak alive, but came out less than half way through the 1st quarter. It was essentially bench vs bench for both sides, as neither team had anything to play for. Nothing particular happened apart from a few highlight dunks and blocks from JaVale McGee.

Shamet had a season high 27 points and Iffe Lundberg had 10, 5 & 5 in just his 3rd NBA game.

Superstar Watch (Season stats):

Booker - 26.8 Points, 5.0 Rebounds, 4.8 Assists, 1.1 Steal, 46.6 FG%, 38.3 3PT FG% 2.4 Turnovers

Chris Paul - 14.7 Points, 4.4 Rebounds, 10.8 Assists, 1.9 Steals 49.3 FG%, 31.7 3PT FG%, 2.4 Turnovers

Scorching Suns:

Devin Booker

He only played 2 games, but you can't deny these numbers from Book.

32 Points, 7 Rebounds, 4 Assists (all in 3 quarters)

33 Points, 4 Rebounds, 3 Assists

His stats for the week:

32.5 Points, 5.5 Rebounds, 3.5 Assists, 0.5 Steals, 52.1 FG% & 57.1 3PT FG%.

Deandre Ayton

Like Book, Ayton only played in 2 games, but he played 2 excellent all-round games.

His stats for the week:

20.5 Points, 11.5 Rebounds, 3.0 Assists, 0.5 Steals, 1.5 Blocks, 59.4 FG% & 50.0 3PT FG%.

Struggling Suns:

Deandre Ayton

Going by the rest he was given against the Thunder, maybe he's a little banged up, but DA struggled from the floor, especially by his standards and also showed a lack of hustle and focus in the 2 games he played. Despite those facts, he did grab 28 rebounds across the 2 games.

His stats for the week:

30.4 Mins, 12.5 Points, 14.0 Rebounds & 44.0 FG%.

Stat Line(s) of the Week:

Devin Booker Vs Los Angeles Lakers

Game stat line:

32 Points, 7 Rebounds, 4 Assists, 12/22 FGs (54.5%) & 6/9 3PT FGs (66.7%).

Chris Paul Vs Utah Jazz

Game stat line:

16 Points, 6 Rebounds, 16 Assists, 2 Steals & 7/11 FGs (63.6%).

Honourable mentions:

Ish Wainwright Vs LA Clippers

I had to give Ish some love, hitting a career high in points, rebounds, assists and steals.

Game stat line:

20 Points, 8 Rebounds, 4 Assist, 3 Steals, 8/15 FGs (53.3%) & 4/8 3PT FGs (50.0%).

Iffe Lundberg

Iffe made his NBA debut last week, but got his 1st NBA points (a 3-pointer) against the Clippers.

We're paying attention to the Sacramento Kings game. The numbers aren't huge, but he got 5 assists for the 2nd game in a row and hit a career highs in points, rebounds and steals.

Game stat line:

10 Points, 5 Rebounds, 5 Assist, 2 Steals, 4/13 FGs (30.8%) & 2/5 3PT FGs (40.0%).

Upcoming Games:

Our 1st Playoff game will be played on Sunday, but as of right now we do not know who our opponent will be. The Timberwolves, Clippers, Pelicans & Spurs are all participating in the Play-in tournament, to determine who takes the 7th and 8th Playoff spots.

I put out a poll on Twitter and Instagram and here's who you want to play and what you had to say.

Predictions League:

Here is the final Predictions League table.

Joint winners with 63 points are Luke Godfrey (@Lukegodfrey) and Tom Milner (@TomMilnez) - Congratulations to the both of you.

Along with winning the whole league, Luke also had a correct prediction streak of 15 straight games!

Next nearest was 12 correct in a row by Matt (@Postup323).

Any Other Business:

Frank Released - Wainwright Signed

The Suns decided to cut ties with Frank Kaminsky this week. He's been out injured most of the season and Wainwright has played himself in to a permanent contract this season. He was previously on a 2-way contract and players on those contracts are not eligible to play in the Playoffs.

I hope we see Frank re-sign next season.

CP3 Assist Leader

Chris Paul averaged 10.8 per game this season, giving him the assist championship for the 2021/22 season. It is the 5th time he has led the league in assists.

He joins Jason Kidd (5), Steve Nash (5), Oscar Robertson (6), Bob Cousy (8) & John Stockton (9) as the only players to have led the league that many times - Thanks to @KellanOlson for this list.

CP3 Wins Everywhere He Goes

The graphic says it all.

Franchise Record Road Wins

The Suns achieved a 32-9 road record this season, which is a new franchise record. The previous record was 31-10 set by the 2004-05 Nash-led team.

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