TODAY’S HIGHLIGHT
Phoenix absorbs its 20th loss in its past 23 games
Phoenix Suns forward TJ Warren attempts a basket against Atlanta Hawks guard Dennis Schroder during the second quarter at Philips Arena in Atlanta on Sunday. The Suns lost 113-112.
ATLANTA – It’s a strange time in the NBA season for teams like the Phoenix Suns and Atlanta Hawks.
Organizationally, losses are the currency of choice because they increase the odds of getting the No. 1 pick in the draft. It’s why Atlanta “rested” guard Kent Bazemore Sunday, two days after he had a career-high 29 points against the Golden State Warriors.
But coaches and players aren’t checking Tankathon.com every night. They invest too much time and energy to accept that a loss is really a win.
“You’re out there fighting,” center Tyson Chandler said. “You’re not thinking about that other stuff. You’re going out there to compete to win a game. I’ve never in my life played any game – I don’t
care if it’s Monopoly – trying to lose.”
The problem with the Suns? Even when they’re trying to win, they don’t. It didn’t matter that Chandler was back in the starting lineup after missing seven of the past eight games with neck spasms. Or that Bazemore was out.
Atlanta still beat Phoenix 113-112, avenging a one-point loss to the Suns in January.
Phoenix now has lost 20 of its past 23 games and 17 of its past 19. The Suns are 5-22 in 2018, which plays well in the race to the bottom – Phoenix had two more losses than any team in the league heading into Sunday’s night games – but nowhere else.
Sunday’s loss came down to two shots. Atlanta’s Taurean Prince hit a leaning, 26-foot 3-pointer to give the Hawks a one-point lead with 8.6 seconds remaining. The Suns called timeout and got what they wanted, Devin Booker isolated against rookie guard Tyler Dorsey.
Booker got to where he wanted, too, picking out a spot along the right baseline. But his shot bounced off the rim, he ran off the court and the Suns were done.
“That’s the exact shot I wanted,” Booker said. “Picked out a point on the floor and got to it. Rose up, just missed it.”
Booker’s teammates were stunned. “I called ‘Game’ when he shot it,” said forward Marquese Chriss, who had his best game in two months with 17 points (including a career-high four 3-pointers), five rebounds and four blocked shots, the last one a highlight rejection of a John Collins dunk attempt late in the third quarter.
The Suns wouldn’t have had to rely on Booker making a game-winner had they not blown another fourth-quarter lead, this time a 102-95 advantage with 6:23 remaining. They went 3:26 without a field goal before T.J. Warren, who scored a game-high 36 points on 16of-26 shooting, made a layup with 2:57 left.
That ended a 14-3 Hawks run, for which the Suns have to take partial credit. Booker missed two shots during the stretch, but Phoenix also settled for poor shots, including 3-point attempts by Warren and Josh Jackson, neither of whom are proficient 3-point shooters, and an 18-foot, pull-up jumper by Elfrid Payton.
Then, with 2:14 remaining, Prince was called for goaltending on Jackson’s running layup. Prince got into Jackson’s face following the call, Jackson shoved him, Prince shoved back and the NBA’s version of a fight ensued.
After a long review, Prince and Jackson were whistled for technicals but Phoenix got hit harder when Payton – as well as Atlanta’s Isaiah Taylor – were ejected for their part in the scrum. Payton at that point already had a triple-double with 11 points, 10 rebounds and 14 assists.
“Isaiah went and pushed Josh,” Payton said. “What are you doing? I was trying to help a teammate and get him out of the way. I just gave him (Taylor) a little push.”
Payton’s ejection hurt the Suns almost immediately. They got the ball back with a minute left and the game tied at 110-110. When Atlanta took away Phoenix’s first two options, Jackson missed a 22-foot, step-back jumper with plenty of time left on the shot clock.
“Ideally we don’t want a mid-range shot that quick,” interim coach Jay Triano said. “We prefer going to the basket.”
“I probably could have gotten to the basket,” Jackson said, “but I felt like it was going in. Either way, I felt like it was a good shot.”
The Suns took a 112-110 lead on a Warren layup with 20.8 seconds left but then Prince made his shot and Booker missed his.
“You got to live with the consequences,” Booker said. “I’m fine with it.”