Phoenix Suns Lose Instant Classic To Warriors, Did They Pass the Playoff Intensity Test?

Phoenix Suns Lose Instant Classic To Warriors, Did They Pass the Playoff Intensity Test?

On today’s episode of Locked on suns breaking down how the Phoenix Suns came oh so close to winning an instant classic in San Francisco and what went wrong down the stretch let’s go you are locked on suns your daily Phoenix Suns podcast part of the locked on podcast Network your team every Day And we’re back this is locked on Phoenix Suns we are part of the locked on podcast Network I’m your host Brendan clean a credential media member covering the Suns for the past seven seasons a writer at suns.com and the host of the just basketball show wherever you get

Your podcasts a big thank you for making locked on suns your first listen on this Sunday maybe a little pre Super Bowl drive maybe you’re running some errands maybe it’s Monday in which case hope the sick feelings are not too bad after Super Bowl Sunday wherever and

Whenever you are thank you for being here if you haven’t already hit follow or subscribe get the show in your feed every single Monday through Friday it has been an awesome stretch of Sun’s basketball Saturday night in my opinion was an instant classic so if you are

Happening to find us for the first time hit that button wherever you’re finding us we’re free and available everywhere including YouTube get a show in your feed every single Monday through Friday become an every dayer get locked on to the Phoenix Suns all season long today’s show is brought to you by LinkedIn

LinkedIn jobs helps you find the qualified candidates you want to talk to faster so post your job for free at linkedin.com lockon NBA that’s linkedin.com / locked on NBA to post your job for free terms and conditions apply 113 112 if last season’s defining game post

KD trade was the Mavs game on Sunday mat n ABC nationally televised this was the defining game of this season so far a lot left to go but sometimes in the NBA you just get these clashes you just get the matchups between teams at the perfect moment in

The season and for anyone who says they hate the NBA regular season tell them to go back and watch this game or tell them to tune on tune in for the next one because um both teams riding three- game winning streaks both teams playing solid basketball for a month plus

Rivalries beefs grudges this was a playoff game this was a playoff intensity level regular season NBA basketball game between two teams with a lot on the line line and two teams with a lot of history and it lived up to that billing flat out no way around it this

Was an amazing game and we’ll start with the moment of the game as we always do because a lot of the time with great games like this you end up really focusing in on the end we will not just focus in on the end here throughout the show but that’s

Where you have to start so specifically the Suns called a timeout with 5 minutes and 23 seconds left in the game down three all right from that point on Devin Booker would score or assist on each of the Suns final 16 points of the game game they had a chance to win this

Game in terms of their offense because of him not saying he’s the only guy who played well but this was a matchup where everybody in that starting lineup started out of rhythm the sun’s only shoot 46% from the field overall in this game it was even lower than that most of

The night because Booker himself was out of rhythm to open things up he forced to pull up three early in the game he forced that mid-range jumper kind of at the free throw line Half post up half drive to the basket over wiggins’s hands early that didn’t go in Durant wasn’t

Able to to get comfortable Beal everybody right gron Allen had a pretty poor game I think he might have been the the weakest link in my opinion across this entire game and so they they were I mean they did not earn this game being as close as it was until this stretch

And they had some good bench moments and Beal did have it going um I believe to close the first half um but look they put themselves in position to win this game because of what Booker was able to do on offense score boring or assisting on 16 straight points to close it

Out on the Warriors side they were doing a good job as we look at these final five minutes of in addition to Booker going off not allowing Curry to go off right he takes a deep pull-up three at about 356 that he misses other than that you had one shot where Draymond

Made a layup not a lot of resistance at The Rim you had another short roll pass or two Draymond layups I believe um only one was assisted by Steph you had another short roll pass from Steph to Draymond that ended up in a kaminga alleyoop

Dunk but Mo I mean that’s what you have to do with golden state right all you can possibly ask for in a lot of cases is to say get the ball out of his hands out of Steph’s hands and especially this incarnation of the team where of course

There’s no Durant but there’s not even an elite clay there’s not even you know um a Wiggins or Draymond is not fully at his absolute Peak although he was great in this game game which I think went a long way in these situations where Steph had to get rid of the

Ball but of course that flipped right about a minute left in the game and that’s the thing with Steph he misses he made his he only made nine threes in this game only he made nine threes in this game he made his seventh three with about three minutes left in the third

Quarter so over the last 15 minutes of game time he only made two he misses two heading into the final stretch of the game but as I was just saying you can get the ball out of his hands you can have Kevin Durant block a kaminga dunk off of good ball movement

With kaminga crashing from the dunker spot and Durant reading and reacting to that play making an alltime defensive effort and even honestly shout out to Bradley Beal for getting the rebound on that play I don’t think that got enough love cuz obviously kaminga gets his Miss

Back and puts up another one off balance and at that point KD had done enough to end the possession but then for B Beal to grab a rebound in traffic was huge as well and then of course there’s the jump ball and everything else you can do all of that but when

Steph puts his mind to it we’ll talk about the game winning shot in a moment but even the layup before that to retie the game after a be pull-up jumper on the roll was maybe not on the roll I think it was a attack a close out get to your mid-range

Jumper Curry gets Grayson Allen in space drives downhill and gets a floater slash layup in a game where both teams were missing easy shots at The Rim all night of course Steph does not in that moment and then there’s the final possession right and this has gotten a lot of discussion

Online I from what I’ve seen and it’s an important play obviously it’s the gamewinner but you just have to tip your hat to Golden State I think if you’re going to pinpoint anybody on the Suns who made an error I think you would say two things right so Steph it’s 3.1

Seconds left in the game Warriors call a timeout Clay comes in for kaminga as a spacer psky is inbounding the Draymond is at the free throw line or he starts out on the left wing and then uh like left Baseline and comes over to set

A screen KD is on Curry Beal is on Draymond and the Warriors get the the switch that they want they want Cur they want Durant to not be the one contesting Curry’s jumper because of his length and so with Draymond being their best screener and their best IQ

Offensive guy to just read that play they get what they want and Beal ends up being the one having to switch out onto Curry Booker makes an incredible recovery to just get another hand in Curry’s face but he takes off from he he he pulls up from 33 feet

And makes a shot that a only he would take and B basically only he would make right maybe it’s him and Dame and Trey but frankly to come off of a screen like that at a full Sprint catch the pass the way that it was delivered I I mean to me

That really is only him but if you’re going to pinpoint anybody who made any sort of mistake here I think you would have to say Beal trying to shoot the Gap and get the steel and not I don’t even know if he was trying to get the steal I

Think he was just sort of trying to make the catch and the pullup uncomfortable but I think he underestimated the fact that that pass from psky the way that it was delivered a little bit outside of the pocket that’s him knowing that Steph has three full seconds here this is not

One second like it was on the final play with Durant Beal interpreted that pass as off a little bit when it was not I think that’s exactly where psky tried to deliver it it may have even been something where they’ve discussed that and that’s actually where Curry wants

That pass I don’t know but it wasn’t a mistake Beal tries to kind of gather up toward that Curry catches it turns around now Beal’s out of the play Booker’s not able to get there in time and it’s and it’s over I think you could also say vogle maybe should have had

Somebody else defending the inbound pass but you’re splitting hairs at that point the point is the Suns I think on the road against a hot Warriors team we can say they were they were outplayed Booker does everything he can in a night where shots just were not falling for this

Team to get them in position to win it they make multiple solid defensive plays but especially Durant’s block and it comes down to the end and on this particular night Curry and that Warriors offensive machine was just the better thing that happens in these big games that happens in playoff games which is

Exactly what this one felt like and if it was the best of seven series I don’t think we would go to bed on Saturday night feeling like the series was over which is why I’m not all that in my feelings about this loss but we’ll talk

About how the Suns Rose to the occasion in a postseason type of environment in a test for this team that they have not gotten many of next first Today’s Show brought to you by LinkedIn and Linkedin jobs in particular here’s the deal I’m a big fan of LinkedIn jobs because they help me

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For free at linkedin.com lockon NBA that’s linkedin.com lockon NBA to post your job for free and join 2 5 million small businesses using LinkedIn already terms and conditions apply let’s keep it rolling here a playoff atmosphere requires a playoff level of intensity a playoff level of execution did the Suns bring that well

Obviously obviously they did because the game was a one-point game every quarter was within five points I mean man that this was such a fun one I watched it at shout out to Trevor’s Liquor on uh on McDow watched it there with a A Crowd full of suns fans

Um watched it back this morning and was tweeting away a storm and clipping little things out and and finding stats and all sorts of stuff because I mean look it’s fun if you love basketball it’s also a perfect test for this team because even if you would love how

They’ve played the past month month or two and I do I think they’ve played great since Beal came back for the final time and they’ve had the big three healthy for a while but they haven’t exactly had a ton of of really high caliber tests right beating the Mavs on

The road that’s big but it’s I mean Kyrie didn’t play and it’s also look it’s a it’s a rivalry it’s an intense matchup Grant Williams was acting like a a and everything else but that’s not a a championship contending team in Dallas right the Warriors maybe we don’t

Think of them that way but they won the title two years ago that’s a veteran team and they’ve been playing great lately and it’s on the road these are the types of tests that you have to Ace right something that Dallas or the Pelicans or Miami a couple times or the

Pacers without halberton like you just you cannot replicate it and so I think the sun should feel great frankly I I really do because if if if the first quarter goes better I think that and OB I don’t mean that from a points standpoint I think their

Defense was leaky I think that they played very very poorly on that end of the court and their shots weren’t going in until the end of that quarter if if they bring it from the first quarter on I think that they have an even better chance to win this game

Than they did maybe they don’t need that Booker flurry maybe they’re the team up a few with 5 minutes left rather than the other way around that said there is also something to be said for responding and and getting it together in a game like that I mean there’s been

A lot you know there’s been plenty of games every NBA team has games where you come out sluggish and you’re just down 20 before you realize it and it’s over right the Suns did not have that and not only that they were able to withstand the inevitable Curry picks his spots in

The first half and then what does he do first minute of the third quarter bangs a three and they handled that they only lose the third quarter by three they win the fourth quarter by four so overall I think you have to be pleased as far as

Individuals I wanted to talk about two guys here in the starting lineup um that under performed right you can focus on the nurkic and Draymond stuff I think Draymond came out very very determined in this game in a way that is I don’t want to say rare for

Him but I mean it’s it’s once a month maybe that he can Will himself into having a positive impact as a scorer which is just not his game anymore and he did that in this game right so that’s not going to happen all the time but never nevertheless

Nurkic was just not good enough right no matter how that little beef affected the game or the fact that Draymond brought it and everything it doesn’t matter nurkic had opportunities once in the post against Clay early on once in the post against kuminga early on he had

A a roll to the basket I believe in the third quarter where he missed a bunny that was around the time where him and Draymond started to do the two small stuff and get into it with one another no trips to the free throw line I mean

Look it’s not about Aon here it’s just to say part of how the suns were able to turn this matchup into a very interesting close set of games over the past few years is because they used their size to their advantage the suns were not a huge team they never have

Been in this era with James Jones but they still could dump it to Aon in select situations and score off of that and not just Aon any of their centers the fact that nurkic wasn’t able to do that cost them early in this game on the defensive end it’s going to

Be hard for him it’s going to be difficult when they’re using Dr as a passer they’re running off ball stuff where you have to switch it and so then nurich gets switched and just ends up it’s not even like his fault but when Draymond is setting an off ball screen

For somebody and that shooter is flying off of it there’s a reason every team guards that the same way it’s because it’s kind of all you can do which is to switch it because otherwise the defender of the guy coming off the screen is just already so far

Behind the play so instead you send the guy guarding the screener off with that guy running around the screen just to catch up and that’s fine but when that’s nurkic and all of a sudden now he’s switching on to Klay Thompson or something even if they don’t use clay

Now you’ve negated whatever nurkic is out there to do because he’s out in the corner he doesn’t have the quickness to come recover to protect the rim and then it’s just sort of on defense what’s the point which which is why you saw this team close small but when he is out

There he still needs to be making an impact and so the missed opportunities on offense really hurt them so I would say if you’re creating uh like a tally of the good and the bad in this playoff test nurkic was a bad nurkic you know they’re going to have to

Adjust to utilize him better and he’s going to have to realize the burden that’s on him to make an impact in his limited minutes Grayson Allen is the other one I thought early in the game and really throughout it he did not come with the level of intensity that’s necessary and focus

That’s necessary and effort to guard Steph it is a full-time job and I think too they’re now that the Warriors are are clicking more you saw very quickly how small Allen can look right it’s one thing when he’s guarding Steph but when he’s especially on the other end of the court

And he is on offense maybe trying to shoot over a contest trying to drive and kick drive and score and you know it might be Steph Gary pton Kingo Wiggins and Draymond or something outside of St everybody’s huge that’s how the Warriors have been built forever and you could feel that that

Affected him it’s why he’s two of six from Deep only two assists just not really affecting the game all that much and then when you combine that with the defensive mistakes guarding Steph losing him off the ball ball watching a little bit not communicating it’s not like he was a

Killer awful defensive guy in this game but he just didn’t rise to the occasion to be a huge positive and in the playoffs everybody has to be contributing something it’s why you see guys get one stint on the court and then get benched and and things like that

Because you just can’t afford the the mental errors you can’t afford inconsistencies and and and unfortunately those two guys didn’t bring it but that’s still to Circle back to the beginning of the segment the big three were cold early it didn’t look great but guys like aogi guys like Eubanks with two Steals

And two blocks and of course the big three getting back on track as scorers they figured it out and again if I went to bed on Saturday night and that had been a playoff game I would have been let’s let’s effing go for game whatever the next one is on Monday night

Two days later right like that this should not be a failure for the Suns despite some of those mistakes despite some of the guys not stepping up and the way that the last possession went the first quarter went or whatever you want to point to I think it’s a a lot of

Reason for optimism let’s close out the show looking at lineups stats everything behind the scenes under the surface of this game as well as how reyce O’Neal looked in his debut first Today’s Show brought to you by Nissan are you the kind of driver that likes to push things a little

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There to answer take the Nissan Rogue Nissan Pathfinder or Nissan Armada and go find your next big adventure shop nissanusa.com closing out the show some stats some lineup facts some observations behind the scenes under the surface of this game let’s start with how did the Suns compete in a game

Where they lost The Possession and the three-point battle I will start by saying I don’t have a great answer for this but in the postseason if we’re treating this as kind of a tuneup for the playoffs as I’ve said countless times already in the show that unfortunately whether it

Whether you like it or not is how these games get decided and the Suns had one more turnover than Golden State they had four fewer offensive rebounds than the Warriors and they made six fewer threes so it’s sort of crazy that they even had a shot here which is again why

I said like you combine that with the wonky first quarter and it’s like it’s a testament to this team’s resolve that they were able to mentally buckle down and have give themselves a shot but if I try to look at why this happened it comes down to a few things

One free throws the Suns got to the line five more times and they made nine more free throws okay so that’s huge in addition as I mentioned in the last segment the warriors were really bad at The Rim so the warriors were 19 of 35 at

The Rim so they got to the to the rim almost twice as many times as the Suns 35 attempts compared to just 18 attempts but again they only got fouled three times on those shots which is not a very good rate and they only made seven more shots at the basket than the

Suns did so really I guess you could say it kind of came down to the Suns making a lot more of their mid-range shots the Warriors making some more threes and the sun’s being slightly better at The Rim as well as the free throws and then this would be the last part

So despite the Suns having more turnovers points off of turnovers was pretty equivalent and then even though the warriors were able to get a lot of offensive rebounds they weren’t like amazing at converting those into Second Chance points so the Warriors had crap Second Chance points

Is never on ESPN and I don’t have another box score up but it wasn’t like they got 14 offensive rebound bounds 13 sorry and they got like 28 points off of that right like that’s that’s like the best Cas scenario for putbacks and it wasn’t there but still you piece it together it’s

Like you you would maybe think okay the bench really favored the Suns the starters really favored the Warriors not really it was sort of just how did how did the Warriors play when Steph was on the court so they’re plus 10 when Steph is out there the Suns won the other

Minutes by nine right because it ends up being a one-point game so 34 minutes with Steph the Warriors win those by 10 they lose the other 14 minutes by nine and that’s how you get these very very close games but speaking of bench vers versus starters the only thing I really wanted

To check in on is obviously to just reiterate the sun’s closed small I think Joshua kogi should have played more minutes in this game as we do a little bit of a bench Bob Vibe check here here only 10 especially with how much his shot was going in yes the Warriors are

Smart enough and well coached enough that if you put a non-shooter like kogi out there they will adjust their scheme they will make him shoot they were putting pmy on him they were putting bigs on him and they were just leaving him that sucks but especially again to

Circle back to the fourth quarter the suns were using Grayson Allen as a screener to get Steph Curry onto uh Booker I guess you would say if that was a kogi in Grayson’s place or Gordon’s Place more likely that’s a big man and maybe that’s not quite the mismatch the

Suns would want if it’s I don’t think it would be Draymond maybe maybe they would just put Draymond on a kogi and then that neutralizes but still then you just whoever Steph is guarding you just have that guy set the screen instead so it just and and they weren’t even using

Grayson Allen as a as a popper when he would set those mismatch hunting screens so I just couldn’t find a great reason why aogi wouldn’t be on the court not just on that final possession but more late overall in place of Gordon or against Allen with how well he was doing

Against Steph and how much of a Groove he did seem to be in offensively creating offensive rebounds making his shots all that stuff so that’s what I would say the other thing is now after this game you have seen 38 minutes of the sun’s quote unquote laser

Lineup they closed with it down the stretch of the game Booker Beal Allen Gordon Durant in those 38 minutes the Suns have outscored their opponents by 21 points per 100 possessions or let’s say 2.1 points per possession or would that be 02 points per possession that’s a great number that’s a great

Number and it again just signifies this team’s situation right now as this whole game did they’re not going to kill the other team and suffocate their offenses their defense is not going to be how they win games that is driven by a one that that net rating with those five is

Driven by a 136 net rating uh offensive rating sorry and a 115 defensive rating 115 defensive rating is mediocre but that 136.34 with Brandon well the one we record on Monday going into Tuesday talking about if O’Neal could be a starting option for this team and much

More so stay tuned there I liked the initial returns but that will wrap us up for the day don’t forget to hit follow or subscribe get a new show in your feet every single Monday through Friday back on Tuesday breaking this game down a little bit more looking at that O’Neal

Stuff I just mentioned and diving into a back-to-back coming up this week against Detroit and Sacramento enjoy those enjoy your Monday enjoy the Super Bowl and I will catch you all on Tuesday

A late Devin Booker flurry wasn’t enough for the Phoenix Suns to beat Steph Curry and the Golden State Warriors on the road, but the Suns shouldn’t hold their heads.

Brendon Kleen of @justbasketballfans breaks down the road L to the Warriors including how the Suns gave themselves a chance in the 4th, the Curry game-winner, and who did and didn’t pass the playoff intensity test at Chase Center.

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