Suns’ high effort lacks execution late in loss to Warriors

On By Littum

These Phoenix Suns certainly play hard, but their lack of execution on both ends remains an issue, with Saturday’s 109-105 loss to the Golden State Warriors showing in abundance.

Both of these teams were inserted among the elite of the Western Conference a few weeks into the season before both teams fell off a cliff. The Suns started 9-2 and are now 6-14 since, while the Warriors entered having lost 12 of their last 15 since the beginning of the year 12-3. Both entered the night 15-15 at play-in positions for the position.

The key difference Saturday was the shorthanded Suns were without Devin Booker (left groin strain), Grayson Allen (concussion protocol) and Jusuf Nurkic (suspension), while Golden State was without Moses Moody (left knee) or Gary Payton II (left calf).

This was a game that was probably a lot more fun to play in than to watch, as the competitiveness was as constant as the lack of execution. The third quarter in particular was filled with both teams proving unable to create much separation, even though the opportunities were there.

Phoenix showed a good fight to grind through all that and lead by five entering the fourth quarter, mostly on the backs of Kevin Durant and Bradley Beal. The offense was clicking enough and the energy output defensively was high enough that this was a pretty solid Suns performance if not for the handful of small mistakes on defensive rotations and a lack of rim protection that led to a lot of Warriors buckets at the basket and open 3s.

These errors elevated the performance of two excellent high-engine contributions from Sun’s wings.

Royce O’Neale had a rough-looking ankle sprain midway through the second quarter that ruled him out for the rest of the game, making Ryan Dunn’s best game in weeks all the more important. The rookie had his touch from the midrange and aggressively attacked the rim, all while making some plays on the glass and at the curve as a rim protector. Throw in great Josh Okogie minutes that really sparked the Suns in the first half and they got enough from their supporting cast again, somehow.

After three and a half quarters of neither team delivering an effective shot to put this one away, even with the Suns leading by nine with under seven minutes remaining, it was anyone’s guess who would be able to execute for a victory. In a predictable conclusion, no one really did until the end, as you’ll decipher in this recap of the last five minutes.

How did the game get away from the Suns late?

With just over five minutes left straight out of a timeout, a Beal turnover was followed by a Stephen Curry floater and Beal missed a 3. Dennis Schroder scored at the rim and suddenly it was 100-99 Suns with 3:45 left. . Durant then turned it over and the Warriors drew free throws in transition to take the lead.

Curry missed two shots you’d pick him to make, allowing Phoenix to get back up two points before a Schroder 3 quickly ended it. Another plowing Suns offensive possession focused on an isolation for either Beal or Durant led to a Durant turnover, and after Phoenix once again escaped a good Curry look without falling, Durant fought the miss to draw a loose ball foul and sank both free throws to set it at 105-104 suns and 30 seconds left.

At length the execution came. It wasn’t via Solene.

Golden State wonderfully made a beautiful play with Curry as a decoy, planting Jonathan Kuminga under the basket. Green threw the pass as Kuminga arrived and then expertly drew the foul on Durant as the defender recovered.

Both free throws went down, and in the Suns’ turn at the ATO play, the design worked. Durant came curling around the screening action to the top of the key for room to work with, but Beal, as the ball handler, put his head down to drive a second too early, presumably assuming Durant wasn’t about to open. Durant then had to go downhill on Green and Green played his usual spectacular defense to force a miss and win it.

Durant was 10-of-24 for 31 points with six rebounds, three assists and four blocks, but turned it over eight times. Beal’s 28 points came on good shooting efficiency (12-for-24), but neither had a field goal in the final 10:52 of the game and combined for just seven points in the fourth quarter.

Dunn scored 13 points and Okogie added 11 with nine rebounds (six offensive), two steals and two blocks.