Suns beat Wizards, head into league’s toughest schedule

On By Littum

PHOENIX- The Phoenix Suns have won eight of their last 11 games, a figure that is some sort of tangible progress, but not as much as it should be after Saturday’s 119-109 win over the Washington Wizards was another uninspiring one.

Washington started the year 2-2 and is 4-35 since. Saturday’s defeat snapped a 13-game losing streak.

Phoenix went up 14 early, not so much a byproduct of playing high-level basketball, but by taking care of the ball and limiting second-chance opportunities. Washington cut it to six a couple of times in the second quarter before the Suns extended the lead to as many as 19 midway through the third quarter.

That’s when the Suns’ mental detachment began and those categories began to add up again, predictably leading to the Wizards getting within four with 2:26 left in the third quarter. That inspired head coach Mike Budenholzer’s second timeout in under three minutes.

A 7-0 run from Kevin Durant helped stabilize the Suns back to an 11-point advantage entering the fourth quarter that grew to 15. The Wizards then hit back-to-back 3s in a row just when it felt like it which Phoenix should be able to throw through the remaining 10 minutes.

That same feeling resurfaced again, and Washington kept getting back into it, going on a 14-4 run to make it 113-109 Suns with under two minutes left. Nick Richards sank two free throws, and so did Durant.

“There are good spurts of the game and bad spurts,” Suns guard Devin Booker said. “Guess our true tests will come up next week.”

Richards had 20 points and a career-high 19 rebounds, the most rebounds by a Sun this season. He had 15 of them in the first half, the fourth time a player has done it this NBA season. per statehead.

“That’s what we need,” Booker said of Richards. “And he gives everything every play on both ends of the floor. Tonight the numbers showed it. There have been other nights where the numbers don’t look as crazy, but he still had an impact. “

Durant delivered 29 points and Bradley Beal added 20 off the bench. Beal replaced Ryan Dunn to start the second half after a sprained ankle in the first quarter sidelined Dunn.

Saturday marks the unofficial end of the Suns’ cushy portion of the schedule. It felt imperative for Phoenix to take advantage of a lackluster run of matchups in December and January, a stretch made even easier than it was on paper due to key injuries to some of the better opponents on the slate. And yet the Suns went 11-13 for it and now sit at 23-21, eighth in the Western Conference.

Phoenix has the toughest schedule left in the league. Entering games Saturday, there were 10 teams in the NBA with fewer than 20 losses, and the Suns will play 19 of their remaining 38 contests against those teams, including 10 against the top five in the standings.

There are three straight games coming up against West teams more or less within its reach (Clippers, T-Wolves and Warriors) before a road back-to-back against the Portland Trail Blazers is the last breather.

Here are some of the pretty ridiculous bursts of advanced opposition to come (*represents the second game of a back-to-back):

5-12 February: at Oklahoma City, vs. Utah, vs. Denver*, vs. Memphis, at Houston*

March 2-12: vs. Minnesota, vs. LAC, in Denver, in Dallas, in Memphis, in Houston, against Sacramento, in Lal

March 21-13. April: against Cleveland, against Milwaukee, against Boston, at Minnesota, against Houston, at Milwaukee, at New York, against Golden State, against Oklahoma City*, against San Antonio, at Sacramento

The Lakers contest on March 16 will be 68 games into the year. At that time, we will have certified and cemented separation in the position that tells us about it brutal 12-Game Close is more about securing a playoff, play-in fate or worse.

All of this sounds scary, but remember that through all the visible issues on the floor last year, the Suns finished the year 35-18, including a bunch of wins for a similarly dreaded conclusion.

Beal was back after missing three of the last four games with a left ankle sprain. With the short one-game return splitting his timeout, it’s now seven different holes in the season he’s been inactive for.

Jusuf Nurkic, the Suns’ starting center last year and at the start of this year, was active for the first time since he was out for six games due to the flu and a conditioning development from it. Nurkic did not play and continued his recent movement out of the rotation. Nurkic told Azcentral’s Duane Rankin He and Budenholzer didn’t speak for two months and don’t have a relationship, and also said he doesn’t want to pout by bringing further chaos to a team that already has “a lot of it.” Budenholzer denied the lack of contact and noted that talks have taken place.

With Phoenix recently splitting a first-round pick into three, it would surely ideally like not to have to use all of them in a Jimmy Butler deal and save one to link up with Nurkic to add another rotation piece while also expires the final year of Nurkic’s contract for next season. The Butler part is wishful thinking. Nurkic himself has doubts, citing the Suns’ flexibility card with being above the other apron.

After making 41 3s in a win over Brooklyn, Phoenix tallied 40 on Saturday. That’s a much-needed return to numbers north of 35. It’s hard to say how indicative of progress that is since it came against two lackluster defensive teams that you can go on auto-pilot with drive-and-kick possessions to generate ‘ them, but it is a start.