What Was Real and Not Real From Phoenix Suns Loss In Boston

What Was Real and Not Real From Phoenix Suns Loss In Boston

The Phoenix Suns go down on national TV at the TD Garden 127 to 112 to the Boston Celtics on today’s episode of lockon suns what’s real and what’s not real from a bummer Suns L 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 lockon 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 at Dime magazine the host of the just basketball show wherever you get your

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Score as the Phoenix Suns travel to Boston and fall in disappointing fashion I watched the local feed so I don’t know how ugly it was getting on the national feed I don’t even know who was calling the game and I actually prefer it that way sometimes but nobody’s going to be

Happy after this one and and rather than doing a moment of the game as I typically would in a game where the Suns got outscored by in every single quarter outside of the fourth which became irrelevant and outside of a nice little start didn’t really have any chunks of

The game that they controlled so no moment of the game instead real and not real and let’s start with not real the Suns did not lose this game because of the officiating okay let’s let’s just discuss it let’s I but I want to just I’m not going to beat around the bush

That is my opinion on this game rarely do I feel like teams lose because of the officiating but this wasn’t even close to me all right so let’s start with the numbers the facts free throw attempts were basically equal turnovers okay those favored Boston a little bit but not by much right this

Was not a case of the Celtics just reaching the hand their hands in the sun’s cookie jar over and over and over and ripping the ball out and body bodying these guys and doing all this it wasn’t that it was not that turnovers were 13 to8 so what was

It what could be the reason you might say that turn that that fouls that physicality that officiating decided this game well there were a lot of moments where the Celtics were were doing that stuff right a couple one time I know holiday stripped Durant I believe holiday

Stripped um Allen at one point I think white stripped Durant at one point the Celtics starters had nine Steals and the Suns only shot 48% from the field so obviously it was a good defensive performance I’m not taking that away from Boston at all but the idea that it was

Somehow the Celtics benefiting from being allowed to do something that the Suns weren’t that’s where I run out of belief okay because in order to believe that you would have to feel like the suns were matching the intensity the physicality the force that the Celtics were playing

With and just weren’t maybe they were getting called for fouls right where that would result in a lot of Boston free throws which again did not happen or that even maybe you would say the suns were forcing the issue selling the contacts selling the infractions that the Celtics may have

Been doing and just not getting the calls I don’t think either of those things were happening and if you’ve watched this team for long enough like I have you you agree I mean you have to agree this this is a this this is how it’s always been all

Right the Suns took 23 shots at The Rim tonight Boston took 18 that’s both very very few and again not enough to me that I’m going to say that the sons were showing the you know demonstrating to the officials kind of selling any of this or really pressing it at

All we’ve seen this before the Suns play their game and I’m not going to deny that again the Celtics were physical that’s not the problem the but the Suns play their game and when it gets to be a little too much they don’t necessarily outside of a

Few stretches I can think of like last year’s playoffs or the stretch run of the 2022 64 win season where I would say Booker in particular really became determined to kind of draw that contact and and will his way into getting calls and and getting trips to the free throw line but

That’s common for this team and as I was saying a second ago they get uncomfortable and they don’t really always adjust you know that they kind of just continue to play their game and it bleeds into other aspects of this thing maybe as I’m really not

Trying to be a jerk about this but maybe the real one of the tangible ways you would say that this whole thing affected tonight’s game is the Suns became agitated started asking uh asking uh that’s a little bit of a nice word for it they started uh barking for calls

And and getting into it with officials including vocal getting a tech and that affected their transition defense there was a play in the third or fourth quarter where Drew holiday got a pull up three off of a steel I believe where he just walked into it because nobody

Picked him up and Beal was still behind the play letting the ref know that he was unhappy and that definitely affects it so maybe that’s where you could say that it becomes a problem but against the Lakers for instance guys just to at least give a little bit here

And not just be stubborn in my opinion there were many Lakers games when the Suns played them like five times in the first 40 games or whatever that was well I guess they just played him a couple weeks ago but the NBA cup and then a few other ones where I 100%

Agreed that the calls that let’s for instance say nurkic was getting called for against LeBron and Reeves was getting and ad was getting versus the level of contact that the officials were allowing against Durant in the post and some of these other situations definitely was was

Obvious and I talked about it then the free throw attempt numbers and a whole bunch of other things things Illustrated that that was happening in this game the Suns had an opportunity to match Boston’s level of intensity and physicality and I think I truly believe the refs would have let that go

Too but the Suns did not do that and that is how you get Boston Running Away with transition points getting into a rhythm forcing more turnovers and winning this game so that’s not real that’s not why the Suns lost but there are some genuine things that they can point to that went against

Them that might not always go against them and we’ll break down some of the real reasons why they lost this game coming up next first Today’s Show brought to you by eBay motors and our partners at eBay motors have teamed up with lock on Fantasy Basketball host Josh Lloyd this

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Apply let’s keep it rolling here so that’s not why the sun’s lost officiating physicality getting the wrong side of these calls I just don’t buy it because it’s a pattern because I think it was there for the taking for Phoenix as well and the numbers just don’t really illustrate that there was a

Big discrep y there but the numbers do illustrate that three-point shooting was wildly skewed and I think you would have to say right that something like that when the Suns get up 31 is a pretty solid number many of which I think were pretty open the Celtics did not have a great

Defensive first half right they didn’t have an awesome defensive game period I would say outside of the ability to kind of get in guys grills and and do the things we talked about in that last segment so the Suns had some open looks they got up a lot of them and yet still

It it did not matter because the Celtics got up 50 and made 25 all right so I think that’s just kind of I I I’m never going to call it a fluke considering Boston this is what they are this is how they play this is what their personnel

Is it’s not luck but at the same time time Al Horford making six of 10 any team making 25 I mean come on you’re getting toward the the league record Al Horford making six Xavier Tilman even making one frankly like some of the pull-up threes that Drew holiday had in this

Game the way that they were making threes in transition those are all things they can do but anyone would have to admit that 25 is at the upward limit of of normal right so if you’re the Suns I think you’re looking at the situation and saying hey

We still played them fairly close for the first three quarters the suns were they would make a run and cut it to single digits they it really never got ballooned to an outof control level and we caught them on a bad night you know porzingis didn’t even play and

Al Horford put together a vintage performance so okay but part of what caused that problem is the Suns perimeter defense was God awful and so they lost the game yes maybe because they got a little bit unlucky as Boston went off from deep but they contributed

To the Celtics going off from Deep if we’re being honest with each other right I mean 31 assists for the Celtics and and they were just getting downhill no matter what what they did I mean it wasn’t even complicated it never is with Boston whether it was Tatum whether it

Was brown whether it was white whether it was holiday Pritchard these guys were just breaking down the sun’s defense and generating drive and kick offense exactly how they want to depending on how much Devin Booker is trying on defense in any given situation the Suns have precisely one dude who can

Consistently get through a screen and stay attached to a ball handler or a guy coming off of an off ball pin down type of screen on their whole roster that guy is Josh aogi he is not healthy right now and it was glaring that that issue was facing Phoenix tonight Jaylen

Brown has his limitations he’s having an awesome season but he has his limitations if you give him any reason to settle for a mediocre shot he’s happy to oblige you and Jaylen was eight of nine of 11 nine of nine of 13 inside the paint tonight nine of

13 and four of six from the free throw line so if you just count attacking points from Jaylen Brown that’s 22 22 points created from penetrating beating his man and scoring inside that’s just one example Tatum had a rough start but the Suns just let him get going some of the okay

That’s probably not fair with Tatum I thought Durant did a decent job on him after he started to heat up I think Durant kind of flipped that switch and and got back on track but that doesn’t discount the fact that Tatum was able to get into that rhythm in the first

Place it’s tough though because a lot of this does trace back to the shooting and and maybe that maybe it is as simple as that after it all after all it is the NBA in 2024 I get how these things go on the other side Booker had another poor shooting performance which has

Happened a bit lately uh well he’s only been playing in two games but it happened on Monday also and then Royce O’Neal just did not have it going at all tonight 0 of seven from the field 0 of five from d if that’s a little different maybe things go

Better we’ll talk about the rotation and nkit and some of that stuff as we get to the last segment here but the last part of this and it again it’s all connected I get that it’s basketball you run back and forth on the court all the

Things bleed into each other but was a major issue tonight I don’t think the Suns played with that kind of purposeful Randomness the spontaneity we’ve been talking about this week since KD said it on Monday and they allowed Boston to do that you know last year when Joe Missoula took

Over for the Celtics their their word their phrase their buzzword was random offense and actually think even dating back to Oka they were talking about that it’s not that different than spontaneous basketball just you know guys I’m not you know I’m not cutting the sun slack

That is a lot of how a lot of NBA teams play this these days and Boston was just able to to do it without being uncomfortable at all 24 fast break points for them and as I’ve referenced a lot of times cleaning the glass has transition efficiency numbers for

Each game as well cleaning the glass.com the Celtics were able almost a fifth of their possessions of their scoring possessions were in transition and they scored 1.8 points per play in those situations which added up to them improving their offensive rating by 10 points per 100 possessions extrapolated

Out like that so the the Celtics scored they had a 131 offensive rating today without any of their transition success they would have had a 121 offensive rating they probably still would have won this game but that is a large part of why it was so

Lopsided so that is a huge part of why the Suns lost this game that is a real reason the Suns lost this game but enough with the bad there was a little bit of good A little bit of confusing and a little bit of Silver Lining and we’ll get into all of those

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Stitchfix.com locked on keeping it rolling for one final segment here let’s get into our benchmob Vibe check I’m tinker with a bull bow breakout watch I think I’ve done that in the past but you know the reason it has to be the bench mob Vibe check is

Because vogle is not playing Bowl enough for a breakout you know that Houston game we thought we had something there have been moments he continues to produce when he gets time on the court and yet 15 minutes tonight I believe like four of those came in garbage time

After the starters left the game nine of those came in the first first half so in the actual rotation end of third into early fourth where B would have gotten back into the game he just didn’t and I don’t really get it it was a per this game was a perfect

Illustration in my opinion of how B is overcoming the obvious weaknesses in his game and I’ll tell you what I mean we know what the limitations are he can be out physical he can and obviously that was an issue today as I’ve mentioned multiple times so okay I get

That he can be a little he can make some awkward decisions on offense I’d say those are his two main issues let’s take the offense first right he made two3 he also passed up a couple but on the plays where he passed them up I believe

On one he ended up getting an offensive rebound and a putback and on the other the ball kept moving and he ended up getting the ball back and taking another three so I’m never going to fault somebody for overpassing there’s a version of bub if you’ve paid attention to this guy dating

Back to Oregon where when he pass if he were to pass up a three he would would have tried to dribble it into traffic and you know get a dunk or you know get fancy and pull up from mid-range do any number of far worse and damaging things than overpassing which

Is really what he’s doing now and if he’s going to crash the offensive glass and try to make the right play and give effort even after maybe not taking an ideal shot it’s really hard to say that he’s killing you on defense I continue to point out that I think his

Transition defense can often be pretty impactful I think that he’s really not playing enough and being put in a position on the ball very often where his maybe being a little foul prone becomes an issue and I think especially when he plays next to Yousef nurkic which he did

In that first half quite a bit he tends to actually like be positive on defense a lot of the time when he is able to be in more of that roaming helping role I just don’t see enough occasions in these games where B is getting beaten

Off the bouns or you know getting his ankles broken or getting posted up and embarrassed or any of that to explain why he’s playing so little I’m not saying that’s going to be the difference between a win and a loss I’m not even saying you know it’s 15

Minutes is a little fake because if the Suns had been close down the stretch he actually would have played less than that cu the garbage Time stuff wouldn’t have come so let’s just say he played more like 10 10 minutes 12 minutes tonight what are we really talking about

In a version where vogle does trust him more no more than 20 but considering that Wayne Wright was cold I’m not even really sure why he was playing and O’Neal was cold and book was cold and they needed a little bit of juice on the offensive end

Frankly and none of the other guys who did play I wouldn’t say actually were really helping the defense even if that was the mix that vogle was trying to chase you just kind of spin yourself in circles trying to understand the justification for not just playing a guy

Who’s good at basketball and and and doing what he’s asked to do I it just it it genuinely is boggling the mind a little bit and you know I we talked about it with Brandon dwas on Monday’s show and I think the best way to put it

Is he’s just a one of those guys that the way he plays and his limitations and everything else are kind of a coach’s worst nightmare but I think a coach’s truest worst nightmare is losing and he may over time you know help the Suns win some games more more if he’s able to

Play play more than he is right now let’s get to the nerk report to close things out though Yousef nkic again a 20 rebound game again a five plus assist game with six and yet a little bit of a weird one on offense the Celtics you know talked

About their physicality at the beginning the way that they just play play rough they they have a lot of guys who Embrace that on the defensive end especially but they’re not the huge team in terms of you know they’re not like the the Nick nurse Raptors or you know Mike buen

Holers bucks when Giannis was at his Peak and Brooke was a little younger and Middleton was a little spry more spry and holiday was there too obviously or whatever you’re the Lakers under vogle even like let’s just use a familiar example that’s not really what the Celtics are they just use their

Physicality they’re always on a string they know how they want to play and they take up space but really more so with their brain and and positioning and knowing again how they want to scheme against your your action than just because their bodies are bigger than yours you know

So that actually posed nerkish some problems I think just like it did this whole team but it’s not like Horford was piling up blocks against nurkic or that nurkic was taken out of the game in some way shape or form but or even really that

Like he was out of sorts because he was playing against a smaller matchup Horford isn’t really that so I think it was just okay I’m getting the ball on the short roll I’m getting the ball on the roll I have a path to the basket but there’s like six arms

Between me and what I’m trying to do there’s help coming if I put the ball on the ground or try to Pivot or spin or take a second to think about what I’m doing and I do think that he’s not a natural scorer he’s not a natural yeah he’s not a natural scorer

So when he has to string moves and processing thoughts and making decisions together all with the ball in his hands or all with the threat of the ball in his hands that’s where nkuch gets tied up a little bit and I think that’s what happened tonight he was also very frustrated by

That physicality just as much as anybody else and I think that can be good and bad right he is a little bit of an enforcer on this team but he does also contribute to some of the sun’s worst tendencies that I started with when games get like that where he’s in the

Ref’s ear he’s getting frustrated he’s letting it affect his effort and his um getting back into plays and just staying with the flow of the game and not letting himself get taken out of it nurkic is is very similar to book and KD and Beal in that way so it does start to

Pile up and it happened with with nerkish that said to continue to be productive and impactful and in position to succeed against teams that you don’t really match up awesome against I still think nurkic deserves a lot of praise for that and so I’ll give it to

Him here that will wrap us up for the day final show of the week might two1 against after the Hornets game if the suns are competitive we will have to really gauge that and see but hit follow or subscribe wherever you are listening or watching we’ll have more fun

Throughout the weekend as the Suns finish off their road trip and I’ll talk to you guys then

Did the Phoenix Sunse lose to the Boston Celtics because of officiating, defense, threes or something else?

Brendon Kleen of @justbasketballfans breaks down whether the refs were the issue, if Devin Booker just went cold at the wrong time, or the Suns defense failed them.

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