Suns games more competitive
Now, club looking to deliver ‘in crunch time’
DETROIT – Deandre Ayton initially said Phoenix “should’ve” won every game on its four-game road trip.
Then he thought about it and adjusted his comments.
“We could’ve won all of them, but you live and learn,” he continued. “You’ve just got to get back in the lab and correct some of our mistakes, especially when the game is on the line. I put it on myself, too. We have to be more locked in on certain possessions that are really important.”
The Suns (4-15) went 1-3 on the road trip, they still haven’t won consecutive games, but they aren't losing by lopsided margins as they did earlier this season when they suffered six losses by at least 20 points in their first 12 games.
The Suns feel as if they’ve found their competitive edge. Now, they’re looking to turn these closer defeats into victories as they return home to play Indiana (11-8) Tuesday at Talking Stick Resort Arena.
“Playing with effort, all of that stuff is taking care of,” Ayton said. “We’re finally competing. We know teams are going to throw everything at us and we’re going to throw everything at teams. So we’re going to be in close games. So it’s just a matter of who is more locked in than who. That’s it.”
When James Jones became interim general manager before the start of the season in place of the fired Ryan McDonough, Jones addressed in his first press conference his definition of success this season.
“Every night, when you watch us on TV, even if we don’t win, you’ll say that at some point in the game, we had a chance to win that game,” Jones said. “And we either lost it because the other team was better or we lost it because we didn’t execute. That would be what I would consider success.”
The Suns found themselves down by large margins at the start of games early in the season. Part of that was playing a tough schedule that included road tests at Denver and Golden State before Kevin Durant and Draymond Green went at each other and Stephen Curry was still healthy and putting in work.
The Suns also played at Oklahoma City, at Memphis and faced the Spurs and the Los Angeles Lakers at home when LeBron James’ new team hadn't won yet.
The Lakers put up 131 in an 18-point victory as Booker went down with a strained left hamstring. He missed the next three games, which all ended in losses including a 30-point battering by San Antonio.
Phoenix continued to show a lack of effort in its 22-point loss to Brooklyn and 20-point loss at New Orleans shortly after.
However, the Suns followed the latter loss with a 118-101 defeat at Oklahoma City, but they cut the Thunder’s 28point lead down to seven in the fourth quarter.
That was the game the Suns started figuring out rotations for their second unit and showed some pushback. Since then, the Suns haven’t lost a game by more than 11 points — and they've won two games.
“If we compete, we can hang around with anybody,” Booker said when asked what the players learned about each other on the four-game road trip.
“I think we got down on each other at the beginning of the year when were losing by 20 or 30 points. We stuck with it. Keep fighting. We learned that we can compete with anybody.”
The Suns' most recent victory came Friday with Jamal Crawford hitting a pull-up jumper over Malcolm Brogdon with 0.8 seconds to complete an 8-0 run and stun the Bucks in Milwaukee, 116114.
That was the highlight of a week-long road trip in which the Suns began to jell a little bit.
“Our communication has been a lot better these last four games,” Suns reserve forward Richaun Holmes said. “Sometimes the road brings teams closer. That’s something that’s definitely happened with us.”
The Suns had a chance to finish .500 on the road trip on Sunday as they led Detroit by a point going into the fourth quarter despite losing TJ Warren to an ejection in the second quarter.
However, the Pistons outscored the Suns 35-23 in the fourth to win, but Phoenix was in the game.
“We haven’t been in that situation a lot this year,” Booker said. “Earlier in the year, we were getting beat by a lot more. So we got the energy and effort part down. We’re competing with teams. Now, in those situations, trying to finish the game when it’s that close. It’s go
TUESDAY’S GAME Pacers at Suns
7 p.m. Talking Stick Resort Arena. FSAZ. time. It’s winning time. It’s time to all come together, communicate even more, over execute, and do everything you have to do times two.”
Part of that is changing up the starting lineups with Booker at point guard and rookie Mikal Bridges starting at the two along with Trevor Ariza, Warren and Ayton.
That unit sparked Phoenix’s 15point, first-quarter lead at Philadelphia. Kokoskov said he made the change to sit Isaiah Canaan to match the 76ers’ "unorthodox" starting lineup highlighted by 6-foot-10 Ben Simmons.
Kokoskov went back with Canaan at the point against Chicago, much to the dislike of many on social media. Phoenix wound up losing to the Bulls, 124-116, who were without four players.
The next game, Kokoskov went back to the starting lineup from the Philadelphia game and Phoenix ended up beating Milwaukee. The other four players on the floor with Crawford were Booker, Ayton, Warren and Ariza.
Kokoskov went with that unit again at Detroit.
"Everybody knows their role," Ayton said. "Everybody knows what they have to do on the court."
Lastly, the Suns have stuck to holding each other accountable after Booker brought it up following the loss to the Nets. In every game, at least one player has been telling another what to do in situations.
“I think guys notice when you (mess) up, you’re letting the whole team down,” Booker said. “So no one wants to be that guy right now. So there’s a lot of fighting going on now. We’re competing. The effort is there. That’s the main thing for me.’’