Phoenix Suns Dominate Miami Heat Behind Bench & Balance To Even Road Trip At 2-2

Phoenix Suns Dominate Miami Heat Behind Bench & Balance To Even Road Trip At 2-2

Phoenix Suns redeemed themselves on their trip to Florida evening their road trip at 2 and 2 on today’s episode of Locked on suns why this fourth quarter is actually not one worth worrying about and why the win is sometimes just a win let’s go you are locked on suns your daily Phoenix

Suns podcast part of the locked on podcast Network your team every day We are back this is locked on Phoenix Suns we are part of the locked on podcast Network and I’m your host Brendan clean a credential media member covering the Suns for the past seven seasons a writer ATS sons.com and the host of the just basketball show wherever you get your podcast say big

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Seamless nice big wins over the Miami Heat this season that’s the headline right let’s zoom in on our moment of the game though as we always start with and that in this case is going to be the fourth quarter but not for the reason you think all right I know we

Talk about the fourth qu a lot something I failed to mention on subtext which is my text alert service that you can sign up for at the link in the show description below or at join subtext docomo ons Suns where I did a preview of

This game and I do a preview of every game sent straight to your phone each game day I failed to mention that these are the two worst teams in the fourth quarter so not only are the Suns still figuring out what what they need to be doing to finish these games but

But the heat are doing the same thing and in this case the heat did get the better of the Suns I don’t even want to look at the Suns fourth quarter deficit this season I believe that is now crossed far beyond 150 minus 150 but as I said we’re not going

Negative today and not just for the sake of optimism I’m not just putting my fingers in my ears and you know singing and pretending like I don’t hear or see or notice any of what’s going on no 318 in the fourth quarter not what you want however I’m not worried about this

One and what I will say to start off is I Echo what Devin Booker said if you watch the post game uh walk-off interview with Amanda flugrad on the broadcast Booker basically said it’s a long season the way you get through the weird patches the rough patches the inconsistencies is

To I think he used the word mature or something like that and basically not ignore them of course put work in of course fix and and identify what those problems are but not dwell not feel bad for yourself and whatever and I liked that tact there because what that meant

What what I think that will mean is what I what I should say is to keep de the course and I think tonight that was the right message that was the right takeaway the suns were four of 13 from deep in the fourth quarter all right 14 of 40

Overall which means in the first three quarters they were 10 of 26 from Deep very solid right not not amazing but solid and then again four of 14 in the fourth quarter Eric Gordon I believed missed I believe believe missed three open threes and had a turnover in the first quarter

So he had three open threes that he missed and on one of the ones that wasn’t open he tried to attack the close out and got Stripped by Josh Richardson I think if there’s anybody you would point to that played poorly it would probably have to be

Him or Bradley Beal okay but still even when you’re saying that all you’re really saying if you’re circling those two guys as maybe the weak points in this game in this particular fourth quarter really all you’re saying is that they missed shots I thought that Beal had a pullup

Three early in the fourth that was a bad shot I thought that not the first turnover I just referenced from Gordon although you know that wasn’t great uh but the second Josh Richardson steel which I believe was against nurkic I want to say were some of the only outright bad

Plays you saw in the whole fourth on the offensive side on the defensive side hero started to get hot Midway through the fourth and I think the Suns did a poor job you know especially once he got downhill aogi was doing a decent job trying to stay attached and fight through screens but

Once aogi was out of the play and hero was downhill I thought the Suns help defense out of that was not great on hero but early in the quarter you saw Josh Richardson get those two runouts and then you saw Richardson and hero make contested threes to help ignite the

Run but then okay the lead gets cut to 13 at 441 nobody scored for a minute and a half nobody made a field goal for even longer than that and then the Suns finally started to claw back into it nurkic gets a hook shot Beal finally

Gets a three to fall and the game is pretty much in hand at that point so this is not as if Miami got all this momentum and you know dismantled the Suns or something they got hot from three at the same time that the Suns got cold they got a couple of

Opportunistic Fast Break opportunities hero got into a Groove to a degree think he made two threes had an assist to Bam on an alleyoop maybe two of those but the son answered right aogi had some offensive rebounds Booker and Durant were making the right play the ball movement was I

Think very good in this stretch even though the lead got smaller so that’s all just to say the numbers will continue to look bad but the how here was not nearly as ugly they didn’t play super slow for no reason right they didn’t take bad shots they didn’t throw

The ball to the opponent both of those Richardson turnovers were strips you know they were avoidable I’m not giving the Suns protection from it or something but they were good defensive plays and again I believe the Suns only had two or three total turnovers in this quarter

This was not as if they uh combusted here so let me see the heat had a turnover the Suns had a turnover two and then two for the heat three for the Suns and then the shot clock turnover at the end of the game so the Suns had three turnovers in this fourth

Quarter only one of them uh and one of them was an offensive foul one of them again the shot clock would have been the fourth so two real turnovers and they both happened by Richardson early on every way you slice it this was actually a perfectly fine fourth quarter

Booker’s message was right don’t overreact don’t be in your feelings on to the next one on to our next segment where I will give you my big takeaway from this game which revolves around the type of opponent that the Miami Heat are we’ll get into that next first Today’s Show brought to you

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Picture here for just a moment right here’s why I think this what I think this this win means why it matters why it’s not just another game on the calendar although I have to admit to you um the fourth quarter Honestly made it interesting Miami Heat are an

Ugly boring team to watch right now they were on a six-game losing streak they are now on a seven game Los losing streak I do not know what’s going on with this team even Jimmy Butler whose stats would tell you today that he had a bounceback game of sorts was really only

It only looks that way because he had a bunch of putbacks and got to the free throw line he was minus 17 in the box score in his 37 minutes which means that in the 11 minutes that he was not on the court that he’d actually won those

Minutes by four so even Jimmy with 26 and four assists zero turnovers this was not a great Butler game and you barely noticed him which is a weird thing to say about somebody who was the highest scorer on either team for the night all that aside the reason this one matters two two

Things first of all I do think that the Heat present A distinct challenge as a defense that also makes me feel like that fourth quarter is not something to panic about because they did two things in that fourth quarter defensively that really I think they are one of the only teams in

The whole NBA that you would trust to execute 10 times out of 10 at a pretty high level they pressed three quarter Court basically and then they Z they played a zone defense in the half court the Suns figured both of those things out they put many ball handlers on the

Court even though Grayson Allen went out with an ankle injury they had Gordon Beal Booker and Durant on the court for most of the fourth quarter even aogi can handle the ball nurkic can handle the ball so they they figured out how to advance it pass

The press and then the Zone like I said the ball movement was solid they were four of 13 from Deep they figured it out the other thing um well okay so it’s it’s those two components of their defense and it’s a team that that’s it’s weird right

They’re not big because bam is an undersized Center they don’t play Kevin Love a ton he’s the only guy who would really have positional size but even he really sort of is their Center now and then everywhere else they’re they’re they’re not really big at their position they’re not really small necessarily but

They have a bunch of wings right and I think that that is a unique type of team to play because they can switch everything on you when they do go to the Zone there’s not really a mismatch to exploit or somebody to shoot over or post up like there are against some teams

Zones and so again small victories I think that is impressive to figure out right the Boston Celtics in the Conference finals last year did not have a lot of answers for that zone defense we have seen this defense maybe put up one of the better fights against the

Denver Nuggets of anybody in recent memory so they’re not at their best right now they are in a lull I don’t know what’s going on with the heat but the defensive end being able to to solve them is something worth celebrating so that’s one takeaway the

Suns when they face another Zone in the future when they face another press in the future another Wing heavy team they’ll be that much more comfortable with it that matters because those I mean look the Lakers are a similar Squad right and they gave the Suns a ton of

Trouble up until Bradley Beal got them over the Finish Line in the final matchup between those two teams so it matters again to repeat myself the other takeaway from this game the other reason that this one matters more Than Just Another January 29th basketball game is that the bench

Finally came through that’s humongous that’s a this might be the best bench game that the Suns have had all season long maybe there were some games when both Allan and Gordon were coming off the bench early on in the season before things got figured out where you could

Say that it was better but whatever I’m going to go with this one because the lineups actually made sense and the guys who were on the bench played in that road rotation and still found a way to make an impact meaning that with Grayson Allen going out and this Suns team being very

Thin these guys are sort of put under a spotlight put under a microscope and I thought Eubanks in the first half especially was awesome I think all of his points outside of maybe the free throw came in the first half and all of them were at the basket so five of five

All of his shot attempts came at the basket all of his shot makes came at the basket and he was plus 24 on the night this was a much better matchup for him than Orlando I mean honestly I know it’s uh impossible to make this ever have happened because

It’s not reality but the if you could have just switched and have nurkic miss this game and play the Orlando game I think the Suns Maybe maybe win that magic game and Eubanks is able to just start this game and dominate because again the heat are not very big bam is

Basically eub Banks’s size and Off the Bench you know asabuki probably could have handled Kevin Love Without much of an issue probably met to actually um and and they would have been fine but I digress good to see Eubanks do that I thought bat theop had a good first

Quarter didn’t see the floor the rest of the way happens whatever Eubank uh kogi was very impactful talked about the offensive rebounds in the fourth quarter also had his three ball going he made the one uh over two hands I believe both of the threes he made were contested toward

The end of the clock so you know whatever maybe he needs to Quicken that release and that’s the key I don’t know and then of course Eric Gordon right 23 4 5 1 and two incredible had the three ball flying I think his green light his quick trigger and his uh aggressiveness

Attacking Closeouts getting downhill were two of the reason were the reason those two things were a big part of why the suns were able to beat the heat Zone and having that release valve somebody’s going to pop open and when you put enough shooting and ball handling on the

Court you ought to be able to break a Zone and Gordon if he played Koy and hesitant like he did let’s say at the end of that Pacers game where he didn’t take that left corner three and there’s there are nights where he is overly def defers too much if he played

Like that tonight I’m not sure they win this game I’m not sure that the offense flows as well as it needed to if he’s not aggressive both from deep and driving and you look up 48 points for the Suns bench 48 out of 118 it might be the best one that we

See all season so that is definitely something worth highlighting and hopefully it can continue hopefully these guys confidence is if nothing else carries over into Wednesday’s game against Brooklyn and Beyond let’s close out the show talking about the box score odity of the night the nerk report and

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That’s fanduel.com lockon make every moment more with fandu an official Sportsbook partner of the NFL closing out the show let’s glance through a few things right box score audity I know exactly where I’m going 30 assists for the Suns okay 30 assists seven turnovers that for those of you who have been following

This team for a long time that is some Devon Booker Ricky Rubio type numbers from Monty Williams first season here those guys would frequently clear 30 assists and be below 10 uh turnovers the suns were there tonight seven assists a piece from Durant Beal and Booker so that’s 21 combined only two

Turnovers combined that’s Elite stuff and you know especially with how much time I spent talking about the heat defense and the different wrinkles that they were throwing and the fourth quarter turnover problems early on in that fourth quarter at least to walk away with only seven total and again

Four of them did come in that fourth quarter because one of them was an offensive foul by nurkic one of them was the shot clock turnover when the Suns just ran out the shot clock at the very end of the game so if you remove those two which you

Know can or can’t if how you feel whatever that’s still just five like it’s a good number and three were Gordon right so again the primary guys on this team were selfless moving the ball I also thought they played faster today maybe not from start to finish maybe not

Every single possession I don’t know what the transition numbers say I did not pull them up for this episode but I thought that they just they pushed in transition when they could they crossed half court sooner the ball was moving around and those numbers I think speak for

Themselves last but not least the nerk report and it really brings us to the injuries overall right so Yousef nurkic did play you could see him on a couple rebounds a couple different plays looking at his thumb his left thumb is the one that uh is hurt let me

Actually double check myself on that I don’t want to say the wrong thing so you can also see it in the one free throw attempt right and eight rebounds is nice but zero offensive rebounds right so that that that is a noticeable adjustment that nurkic is having to make

In order to basically play these games he told aanda flugrad it is his left thumb it is a sprain he told aanda flugrad and she said on the broadcast that no fracture and no ligament or tissue damage of any kind so you know not having to wear a splint not having

To wear a cast nothing obviously able to play but he said it’s just pain management it is just something that is going to have to heal itself that he is going to have to try not to aggravate and that is just going to be about kind

Of Tolerance and and how it responds to the wear and tear of the Season what I guess that means is might be in for obviously he had a lot of fouls tonight which is part of why he only played 27 minutes he ended up fouling out with that last offensive

Foul turnover that I keep mentioning but I would expect his minutes to maybe be on you know on the lower end of his normal you know 28 instead of 30 or something and he may be slightly less impactful in terms of the rebounding in terms of the foul drawing

In terms of the physical defense luckily you know the Suns have the Nets on Wednesday that’s not exactly a team that they’re going to need him to match the physicality of some opposing Center then Atlanta kind of the same thing Wizards the same thing so it’s a nice part of

The schedule for that to happen last but not least Grayson Allen obviously uh you know we’ll just cluster that into the nerk report tonight but it’s important to close on Allen missed the remainder of the game after in the second quarter Josh Co he landed on Josh a kogi’s foot it it

Wasn’t the worst ankle sprain you’ll ever see it was definitely not at the level of the Bradley Beal one against the Knicks for instance where he landed on Brunson or divon chenzo I should say but you never know and obviously it could look one way and feel a different

Way obviously we we don’t know I would expect he misses some time um and I guess I don’t know who will start but if I were Frank vogle coming off of such a nice bench performance wanting to keep the rotation fairly intact what I might do is and you’re not

Going to be surprised to hear me say this because I am a homer of this one player and that’s fine he’s my guy I believe in him blindly it is what it is you know where I’m going if you’re in everyday or listening to this or if you

Are on subtext again join sub text.com loock onsun or click the link in the show description to sign up get my thoughts straight to your phone every day I scour the internet I preview games I recap games I send notes I send rumors I send everything right to your phone

You can respond you can engage it’s great if you any where that you consume my content you know where I’m going K Bates to I would start him because I think he’s put together some strong performances Frank vogle told me the last home game that I asked him about

The rotation that it’s matchup based right now and it is to a degree right we saw udat na play against Dallas we’ve seen udoka asabuki play against the magic but look bat theop has been in the rotation for a couple of weeks now and I think he deserves a shot with the

Starters playing minutes in the role that he’s best suited for and the role that is most desperately needed which is another Wing next to the big three Grayson’s been awesome he’s going to play a ton he’s going to play with those guys a ton but the defensive rating with

Even those four despite how dominant they’ve been it skews much more toward offense the defensive rating is mediocre still put bat up in there maybe bring metu back into the rotation maybe put little into the rotation maybe even try wab I don’t know in place of the minutes

That kbd had been playing which is really like 5 to 12 and see where that takes you that’s what I would like to see what I think we will see I mean honestly we may just see Gordon if it’s a short-term thing if if Allen misses a week let’s just say maybe

To finish off this road trip I could just see them starting Gordon and saying hey these guys are going to play Heavy minutes there’s no back-to-backs the rest of this trip screw it we’ll just damage control literally you know with this injury get through the road

Trip play our best guys as much as possible see if Grayson can come back maybe Tuesday against his old team next week the bucks on TNT that’s my guess but more to come if you want those updates as we hear more from Grayson more on Grayson sign up for

Locked on suns Insider text alerts at join sub text.com loock ons Sons or click the link in the show description below I will also have an episode for you recapping that Nets game and more throughout the rest of the week so subscribe follow wherever you’re finding

The show become an everyday and I will catch you next time

The Phoenix Suns didn’t need much from Kevin Durant, Devin Booker and Bradley Beal on offense to beat the Miami Heat on the road, 118-105.

Brendon Kleen of @justbasketballfans dissects the win, including why the 4th quarter is truly nothing to worry about this time, how the bench came through, and how injuries to Jusuf Nurkic and Grayson Allen are impacting the Suns.

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