What we learned from Devin Booker, the Phoenix Suns topped the Jazz in the NBA Cup

On By Littum

game

SALT LAKE CITY — No pull in the shorts Tuesday night.

Devin Booker looked better leading Phoenix Suns past Utah Jazz120-112, in NBA Cup West Group B play at the Delta Center.

Scoring 31 points, Booker may be just over his illness that caused him to battle fatigue in Sunday’s overtime loss to the Sacramento Kings. He went 5-of-9 from 3.

The Suns met the Kings again in a late Wednesday game in Sacramento in the second of a back-to-back.

On Tuesday night, Bradley Beal had 24 points in 29 minutes, but he did not return to the game after checking out with 7:19 left in the fourth.

Suns coach Mike Budenholzer said Beal went to the locker room with a tight left calf and was unsure of his status for Wednesday’s game.

Beal said the outing was a precaution, believed to be in part due to the knee injury he suffered in Sunday’s loss to the Kings, and was hopeful he would play Wednesday.

He felt tight after kicking himself on a crossover move in the third quarter. Beal has cleaned it out through a sore right shoulder, right elbow sprain, ankle tweak, knee and now calf tightness.

John Collins paced the Jazz (2-8) with 29 points and 10 rebounds.

The Suns (9-2) are now 1-1 without Kevin Durant, who missed his second game with a left calf strain that will sideline him for Phoenix’s next five games.

Due to a re-evaluation the weekend of 23-24. November, Durant did not make the trip to Utah to begin a four-game road trip.

Here are three takeaways from Phoenix’s win.

Point difference in the NBA Cup

The Suns still have just one double-digit win, a 114-102 victory over Dallas in the home opener.

They weren’t able to deliver another against a Jazz team with two winners in a point differential situation in the NBA Cup.

They win, which is the playoffs themselves, but the Suns could use a comfortable win. If nothing else just to prove to themselves that they can put teams away.

It looked like they were headed for a double-digit victory when Booker hit a 3 to put the Suns up 117-103 with 1:27 left.

They still led by 11 as they looked for a 2-on-1 situation to increase their point differential, but Grayson Allen missed a 3 with 33.3 seconds left. If he pulls it off, Phoenix is ​​back 14th.

The Suns instead gave up two 3s from Jordan Clarkson that made the difference six with 17.1 seconds left.

Budenholzer was not a coach last season when the inaugural In-Season Tournament took off. He said after the fight that winning is the most important thing, but he understands the entertainment part of this.

Booker said he wishes all games were like this, believing that if it wasn’t considered a bad thing, teams would play hard until the final buzzer.

It’s difficult, but the Suns still haven’t knocked off teams by a double-digit margin, even in an NBA Cup game, when it’s part of deciding who advances to the quarterfinals outside of group play.

Plumlee, Oghodaro makes up for Nurkian absence

Suns coach Mike Budenholzer doesn’t think there’s just one thing wrong with Jusuf Nurkic’s sore left ankle, but it was enough to cut Sunday night short at halftime and not play Tuesday night at all.

He hopes Nurkic’s injury is “short-lived.”

The Suns were more than capable of doing without him against the Jazz thanks to Mason Plumlee and Oso Ighoharo.

The Jazz were without Walker Kessler because of right hip soreness, leaving them short of a big man. So they started John Collins at five and played rookie Kyle Filipowski and veteran Drew Eubanks, who was with the Suns last season.

Collins can score. So his big night isn’t a shock.

Filipowski scored a career-high 18 points off the bench, 13 more than his 5.1 scoring average entering the game.

It was a bonus for Utah. As for Eubanks, he gave them four points off the bench in four minutes.

Very solid contributions, but Plumlee and Ighodaro helped offset those efforts by combining for 21 points and 26 rebounds with rebounding being the main contribution.

Plumlee posted a double-double of 15 points and 14 rebounds, while Ighodaro scored six points and grabbed a career-high 12 boards after totaling 11 in his first five games.

Goal scorers enjoy playing with those kinds of bigs.

How the Suns won without Durant

They fit well within the offense in terms of the dribble passes, dives to the rim, offensive rebounds and the correct pass.

Let’s count the ways.

First, Booker hit clutch hits to keep the Jazz at bay and thrill the crowd at the same time. He closed like Durant would have in terms of making shots.

Two, Beal was in his bag in terms of pullups, stops and pops and getting to the rim.

If the Suns can get him to be that aggressive with Durant on the floor, it makes the Suns even harder to guard. If he hadn’t experienced lay tightness, the Suns win by 10 plus.

Third, Plumlee and Ighodaro were more than solid. Read above.

Four, Phoenix shot 18-of-39 from 3, outrebounded the Jazz by 10 boards, 42-32, and committed just 10 turnovers that led to just 11 Utah points.

Grayson Allen found the touch from deep with a 4-of-9 effort much to the delight of the Jazz crowd as he spent his rookie season in Utah.

Beal went 4-of-7 on 3s and said after the game that Utah is one of his favorite places to play, calling the Delta Center a “shooting center.”

Rookie Ryan Dunn made both of his 3s with the second coming from the corner after a Booker layup to push Phoenix’s lead back to double digits, 114-103, with 2:04 left.

Five, Phoenix is ​​simply a better team. Credit Utah for fighting, but the Suns should have won.

The bigger test comes Wednesday in the second of a back-to-back against a team that has several closers in DeMar DeRozan and De’Aaron Fox to some degree. The Suns will have to stop as the Kings chased Tyus Jones and looked to take advantage of his lack of size.

If Nurkic and Beal don’t play, they’ll really need to lean on their depth, especially in the second of a back-to-back. The Suns went 10 deep Tuesday, with Monte Morris getting minutes after last playing Nov. 2 against Portland.

Still no Bol Bol sight on the field. It is interesting.

Do you have opinions about the current state of the sun? Reach Suns Insider Duane Rankin at [email protected] or contact him at 480-810-5518. Follow him on X, formerly Twitter, at @DuaneRankin.

Support local journalism. Start your online subscription.