Suns hit new low in loss to Hornets

On By Littum

The Phoenix Suns continue to show us who they are with a new season low set after Tuesday’s 115-1104 loss to a Charlotte Hornets team that had previously lost 18 of its last 19 games.

A lineup change the game before did nothing to spark or motivate the Suns, who look hopeless for any fixes in time to salvage this season. Yes, including all types of trades.

Devin Booker scored 21 of the Suns’ 46 points in the first half, giving them early possession. No one else on Phoenix had a rhythm, and neither did the offense as a whole. Charlotte, a rotten offensive team, was under 30% shooting for most of the first half before a 37-17 second quarter put it up 13 at the half thanks to a 26-6 run in the final 6:28 .

The Hornets (8-27) took the lead midway through the second quarter via a 3-pointer from LaMelo Ball, Charlotte’s leading scorer at 29.8 points per game. game, who had just scored his first of the game. The Suns (16-19) played a lot of basketball when the game was on the line, then Charlotte’s athleticism overwhelmed them at the end, a common theme of losses the last two years. The Hornets had 10 offensive rebounds and 17 free throw attempts in the first half alone.

Phoenix got within two early in the third quarter, but kept allowing Charlotte easy looks from second chances, rim penetration or open 3s. On top of that, the bold 3s that Charlotte often attempts weren’t much, but they started to fall off later in the period, especially for Ball. The Suns actually scored 37 points in the third, but too many freebies for Charlotte held it up by five in the final frame.

Phoenix played the first 75 seconds of that period so poorly that it forced head coach Mike Budenholzer to sit Booker and line him up to play 40 minutes in the second game of a back-to-back. Charlotte extended its lead back to 12 early in the fourth quarter and would leave a few windows open for the Suns to come back because it absolutely stinks.

But the fourth quarter was the same story. No connection. No cohesion. No willingness to outwork the other team and no rush to do so, even when facing a humiliating loss, as the pressure mounts on the future of this roster.

The Hornets extended the lead to 15 before a predictable meltdown came from them and the Suns went on a 7-0 run with just over two minutes left. But after another horrible possession by Charlotte, the Hornets grabbed an offensive rebound to set up a wide-open Brandon Miller 3 (for a prolific shooter) that no one was in a hurry to recover from. Ryan Dunn then missed a corner 3 before Ball dribbled out of the shot clock to draw a double team, and then Miller was the guy to open in the corner again. He didn’t miss that time.

It’s not hard to pinpoint Phoenix’s lack of cohesion offensively, and the 3-point volume drops dramatically. The Sun was 8-of-33 (24.2%) from deep. Phoenix averaged 41 triples in its 9-2 start and has taken 36 since then. Take out just the last 10 games heading into Tuesday and that’s 32.8, 28th in the NBA.

Booker in the middle of the third quarter took a fallaway jumper on the baseline that drew a foul. Booker landed first, and that followed Charlotte’s Cody Martin falling on top of Booker, with most of his body landing on Booker’s lower right leg. The replay showed a hyperextension in the other direction and Booker was in a lot of pain before going off and continuing to play through it as he usually does with this sort of thing. He lost steam in the final few minutes of the fourth quarter with a limp, the latter of which he rarely ever lets anyone see.

Booker finished with 39 points (14-of-25), six rebounds, ten assists and three turnovers. He, Kevin Durant (26 points) and Bradley Beal (10) were the only Suns players in double figures.

Rookie center Oso Ighodaro got just six minutes, and the reason brings into focus the larger question of how badly Phoenix needs him. The Suns were led by Charlotte’s center combo of Mark Williams and Nick Richards, a duo that combined for nine offensive rebounds. Charlotte finished with 20 overall, the type of rebounding discrepancy that Ighodaro’s lack of size can’t make up for. Jusuf Nurkic was -22, and he didn’t play nearly as badly as Mason Plumlee, who had blemishes everywhere.