Phoenix Suns - Weekly Roundup - Week 8
- Matt Elvy
- Feb 15, 2021
- 4 min read
Join us as we review the highs and lows of the last week, as well as previewing the week ahead.
Week 8: 8 February - 14 February 2021
Week Record: 4-0
Overall Record: 17-9. 4th in Western Conference
Games Played and Results:
W - 119 - 113 Vs Cleveland Cavaliers
W - 125 - 124 Vs Milwaukee Bucks
W - 120 - 111 Vs Philadelphia 76ers
W - 109 - 90 Vs Orlando Magic
Our first undefeated week of the season sees us extend our winning streak to 6 games in a row and 9-1 in the last 10 games.
On Saturday's NBA UK Fans Live @ Five I was asked whether the dark days are behind us and I answered "I think so", well after 2 more wins, one against Eastern powerhouse Philadelphia, the answer is now "Hell yes!"
This team has been incredible this week and Booker has been on a mission leading them with averages of 32.3 points, 5 rebounds, 5.3 assists on 56.3 FG% & 47.6 3PT FG%. If he doesn't win Player of the Week, Suns Twitter is going to implode.
More great news is that we saw the return of Dario Saric and Cameron Payne from injury for the game vs 76ers. Both guys have played well in their return to the court. Saric in particular did an awesome job against Embiid.
Video courtesy of The Timeline: A Phoenix Suns Channel
Superstar Watch:
Booker - 24.5 Points, 3.8 Rebounds, 4.3 Assists, 0.9 Steals, 49.4 FG%, 36.4 3PT FG%, 3.6 Turnovers
Chris Paul - 16.7 Points, 4.7 Rebounds, 8.2 Assists, 1.2 Steals 48.2 FG%, 35.8 3PT FG%, 2.4 Turnovers
He's also leading the league in Free Throw shooting at 97.1%
Scorching Suns:
Devin Booker
Do you think Book has taken the recent All-Star voting results personally? Yeah me to.
I listed his averages for last week above, but just in case you need them again:
32.3 Points, 5 Rebounds, 5.3 Assists on 56.3 FG% & 47.6 3PT FG%.
He scored 36, 30, 36 & 27 across the 4 games and has completely taken over in multiple parts of games. He had 17 in the 1st quarter against Cleveland, 16 in the 3rd quarter against Philadelphia & 17 in the 1st quarter again against Orlando.
Booker's shooting has finally got hot, just as we've become accustomed to over the past few years. He and Chris Paul seem to have clicked on the offensive end and it has come with Chis deferring to Book when they're on the floor together.
The 30 plus scoring may cool off, but as long as Booker continues to play the way he has, the team are in great shape. His gravity on offense is the key to this team, as he opens up so much space for the rest of the team.
Struggling Suns:
Jevon Carter
Jevon has been struggling this season to the point where he's lost his place in the rotation, to Galloway and Moore. The 2 vets are currently bringing more to the table than Jevon, as his horrid shooting (34.2 FG% & 28.6 3PT FG%) has made him a liability on offense.
He played 18 minutes against Cleveland, but did see the floor against Milwaukee and only logged a total of 3 and a half minutes vs 76ers and the Magic.
Stat Line of the Week:
Devin Booker Vs Philadelphia 76ers
36 Points, 5 Rebounds, 4 Assists, 14/23 FG - 60.9% & 3/5 3PT FG - 60%
It was a toss up between this and his game vs the Cavs, but the Sixers are the tougher and much better defensive team, so the feat was more impressive in my opinion.
Rookie Watch:
Jalen Smith - 1 game this week.
Smith only appeared in the last 1:22 of Saturday's win against the 76ers. He amassed nothing in the box score.
As typing this, the Suns officially announced that Jalen Smith has been assigned to the G-League.
This is not a surprise as when asked why Smith was inactive for the Magic game, Monty responded, "he didn't want to say as an announcement is coming from the team." (Thanks to Duane Rankin for this quote).
Season Stats
8 Games, 6.3 mpg, 1.8 Points, 1.3 Rebounds, 0.3 Assists, 0.3 Blocks, 35.3 FG%
Upcoming Games:
This coming week we have 3 games.
Steve Nash returns to the Valley as Head Coach of the Brooklyn Nets, along with Mike D'Antoni as his lead assistant and Amare Stoudemire as a player development coach.
It was announced yesterday that they will be without Kevin Durant, as he's suffered a strained hamstring. This is disappointing, as we could have defeated the top 3 Eastern teams, while they're at full strength, to boost our confidence further.
Away in New Orleans, the Suns will look for payback following the thrashing we got from them at the beginning of the month. We're a much improved team since then, but can we stop the Pels taking advantage of our frontcourt again? Hopefully the now healthy Saric can help in that area.
Last game of the week is again Away, but in Memphis. The beat us back in January by 4 points, so it's another game where we can attempt to right the wrongs from that earlier game.
Any Other Business:
Since allowing fans back in the Phoenix Suns Arena, the team have not lost a game (all home games). The will be allowing up to 3,000 fans in the arena from Tuesday, up from the current cap of around 1,500.
Steve Nash weighed in on the situation joking, ""I'm glad Robert (Sarver) is going to monetize our return. "
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