Suns drop another winnable game and the road ahead isn’t getting easier.
The Phoenix Suns returned from the All-Star break looking as if their vacations never ended, sleepwalking through the first half before remembering they were, in fact, playing basketball. Their sluggish start felt all too familiar. It was a continuation of the team we saw before the break. An abysmal first quarter set the tone, with Phoenix shooting just 30% from the field while allowing yet another 30+ point quarter on the other end.
That makes 95 quarters this season in which the Suns have given up 30+ points in 221 quarters played this season (43%)
— John Voita (@DarthVoita) February 21, 2025
Mike Budenholzer’s coaching — or lack thereof — only made things worse. I’ll be diving into that in more detail soon, but let’s just say I wasn’t impressed. More questions than answers continue to pile up, and we’re reaching the part of the season where every game is do-or-die. San Antonio, a team the Suns should have beaten, was missing Victor Wembanyama. That should have been a win.
With one of the toughest remaining schedules in the league, Phoenix won’t get many chances against sub-.500 teams. Every opportunity matters. But here’s the reality: the Suns aren’t a good basketball team. They’re not well-coached. They’re not well-constructed. And they’re going to drag us through these last 27 games with frustration as the norm.
They’ve now lost seven of their last eight (psstt…that only win was an OT victory over the Utah Jazz), and there’s no sign of improvement. Only pain.
Bright Side Baller Season Standings
A week had passed since the Suns last took the court before last night, and the standout was none other than Kevin Wayne Durant—the same man featured prominently in Netflix’s Court of Gold documentary.
With this win, Durant now has six Bright Side Ballers on the season.
Bright Side Baller Nominees
Here are the top six performances based on statistics:
Royce O’Neale
27 points (10-of-16, 6-of-12 3PT), 6 rebounds, 3 assists, 3 steals, 4 turnovers, -5 +/-
Kevin Durant
22 points (9-of-13, 3-of-6 3PT), 5 rebounds, 2 assists, 0 steals, 0 blocks, 1 turnover, -12 +/-
Bradley Beal
19 points (8-of-14, 0-of-2 3PT), 9 rebounds, 6 assists, 0 steals, 0 blocks, 3 turnovers, -9 +/-
Devin Booker
17 points (4-of-14, 2-of-7 3PT), 2 rebounds, 8 assists, 1 steal, 1 block, 4 turnovers, -4 +/-
Grayson Allen
11 points (3-of-10, 3-of-9 3PT), 2 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 steal, 1 block, 2 turnovers, -5 +/-
Bol Bol
5 points (2-of-3, 1-of-2 3PT), 4 rebounds, 0 assists, 0 steals, 1 block, 2 turnovers, -13 +/-
Time to vote once again!
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