After the Phoenix Suns’ win over the Atlanta Hawks on Thursday, where they showed consistency, Saturday’s game presented another opportunity for a dominant victory. However, this time, they didn’t succeed in delivering a convincing blowout.
Against the 9-27 Utah Jazz, who were missing several key players, the Suns had the chance to secure their second win of the season by more than 12 points. Though Phoenix won 114-106 and never trailed, the game didn’t feel as secure as it should have been.
Head coach Mike Budenholzer described it as a “good win” but also mentioned the Suns had chances to take control of the game, a point Devin Booker agreed with, knowing another game was coming the next day.
Phoenix led by as much as 16 points in the first half, but Utah managed to cut the lead to just one midway through the third quarter. The Suns pulled the lead back to double digits and were up by eight heading into the final quarter.
However, after missing back-to-back corner 3-pointers, Phoenix started the final period with a turnover that led to a transition layup. Kevin Durant then missed a relatively easy shot, and a Jazz offensive rebound allowed them to score a free throw, reducing the Suns’ lead to five points with 10:49 remaining.
The Suns were able to extend their lead, but Utah cut it to three points two minutes later. Back-to-back turnovers by Utah guard Svi Mykhailiuk allowed Phoenix to stretch the lead back to nine before Utah’s starters re-entered the game after a long rest.
Grayson Allen hit two consecutive 3-pointers, and a dunk from Booker pushed the lead back to 14 with just under five minutes left. Utah never made a serious push, unlike the Hawks’ desperate attempt the previous game, but they did reduce the lead to nine points with 1:59 left, keeping Phoenix’s main players on the court.
The Suns’ inability to pull off a blowout wasn’t due to lack of effort. Booker and Durant were moving with purpose, but issues like turnovers, poor rebounding, and defensive breakdowns allowed Utah to get open shots. These issues will continue to haunt the Suns unless they string together a series of wins to find their rhythm and start addressing these weaknesses.
Whether the Suns will improve enough to become a strong team remains uncertain, but Saturday’s win marked their first winning streak in a month, a small step forward.
Utah has struggled all season. They started with a six-game losing streak and now have six streaks of at least three losses. The Jazz ranked 20th in offense and 27th in defense coming into the game, but their strong offensive rebounding and free-throw rate were concerns for Phoenix.
The Suns did well to avoid fouling (13-for-19 free throws for Utah), but they struggled with offensive rebounding, as the Jazz grabbed 21 offensive boards and scored 19 second-chance points.
Booker had an impressive start, making his first seven field goals and four 3-pointers for 22 of his 34 points. Durant finished with 25 points on 11-of-19 shooting. Together, they combined for 11 assists and eight turnovers.
While Bradley Beal and Allen didn’t have standout games like they did against the Hawks, they contributed solidly off the bench, which has been a strength for the Suns this season.
The Jazz, despite a strong effort in recent seasons, have clearly shifted toward rebuilding this year, especially with multiple key injuries. Taylor Hendricks, the 2023 No. 9 overall pick, is out for the season with a fractured fibula, while veteran Jordan Clarkson has been sidelined multiple times with plantar fasciitis.
John Collins has missed most of the last few games due to a hip issue, and young guard Keyonte George has also been out recently with heel inflammation.
Even someone like Brice Sensabaugh, a late first-round pick in 2023 who averages 17.5 minutes per game, was a big loss for the team. In his last two games, Sensabaugh scored a combined 61 points, showing just how important he had become.
Star player Lauri Markkanen has started to look more like himself after a slow start to the season when he appeared to be playing through an injury. In his first 20 games, he averaged 18.6 points per game on 12.8 shots. But as of Saturday, he was averaging 22.8 points per game on 18.5 field goal attempts, hitting 40% of them.
To show why the Suns should have won by a larger margin, at one point, Utah had a lineup of Elijah Harkless, Micah Potter, Patty Mills, Drew Eubanks, and Svi Mykhailiuk. Harkless was making his NBA debut, Potter had only 131 career points, and Mykhailiuk, Mills, and Eubanks are veterans trying to find roles at the end of the bench.
Utah’s best player, Colin Sexton, played only 29 minutes, while Markkanen played 31. It’s clear Utah had a tough time.
The Jazz struggled from three-point range, hitting only 9 of 42 attempts (21.4%). If a few of Mykhailiuk’s odd stretches were avoided and some of those 3-pointers off second chances had gone in, the game could have gotten interesting.
Jusuf Nurkic didn’t participate in warm-ups for the second straight game. This gave us a hint that the center rotation might change depending on the matchup, especially with Utah’s strong offensive rebounding numbers. Phoenix even played without a center for two minutes in the first half when Utah had a lineup of three players who could play the center position.
Royce O’Neale was still out for Phoenix, as he’s past the 10-day re-evaluation period for his left ankle sprain and was listed as doubtful for this game. This is concerning as the Suns head into Sunday’s game against the Charlotte Hornets, with O’Neale possibly returning on Tuesday in Atlanta.
The Suns’ performance in the 3-point battle against Utah was close. Phoenix made 13 of 37 three-pointers (35.1%). Allen and Booker accounted for 22 of those 37 attempts.
This marked the 13th straight game where the Suns didn’t take 40 or more three-point attempts, which is the longest active streak in the NBA. When asked about balancing the goal of getting more 3-point shots with maintaining good shot quality, Booker explained, “That’s a great question.
I still push for more 3s and I think just the overall tempo of the game, just playing faster. Obviously, that starts with getting a stop and securing the ball but I feel like we’re at our best when we get a rebound and we kick it ahead. And that’s how you find individual coverages.
You don’t let the defense set up and guard us. We say play random, play fast, but it’s a controlled random that at times we’re really good with and at times we slow down a bit.”
