Game Recap: Suns fall short to Nets, 127-117

The Phoenix Suns had a letdown game the night after an inspiring win.

The Phoenix Suns were back in action tonight against the Brooklyn Nets. After a strong 1st quarter, the Suns fell flat and the Nets took full advantage.

What ultimately doomed the Suns was their 17 turnovers (that the Nets scored 24 points off) and getting outscored in bench points by 31. The momentum swing late in the 3rd quarter turned what would’ve been a 5-point game into a double-digit lead for the Nets and they never looked back.

Brooklyn is now 5-0 on the road against teams in the Western Conference and 6-1 vs. the conference as a whole.

Top Performers

• Devin Booker — 31 points, 4 assists, 3 rebounds, 8-18 FG
• Kevin Durant — 30 points, 8 rebounds, 3 blocks, 10-18 FG
• Ben Simmons — 14 points, 9 rebounds, 8 assists, 7-8 FG
• Dennis Schroeder — 29 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists, 8-21 FG
• Tyrese Martin — 30 points, 4 rebounds, 8-10 3PFG

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First Half

The Suns got off to a hot start early, with Kevin Durant and Bradley Beal each connecting on their first two 3-pointers. Phoenix led 11-6 early on, but Brooklyn fought right back to make it a 13-12 game with 7 minutes remaining. Ben Simmons scored 8 of the Nets’ first 12 points.

Royce O’Neale and Mason Plumlee were the first two Suns’ subs off the bench. Mason scored 4 quick points and Royce made a nice bullet pass to Devin Booker for a 4-point play to give Phoenix a 30-23 lead.

The Suns shot 75% from the field in the 1st quarter and took a 37-34 lead into the 2nd. They were outshot by Brooklyn 26 to 16 in the opening quarter. Booker led all scorers with 11 points.

Each time Brooklyn got punched they seemingly answered with Phoenix unable to push the lead to double figures for the first 15+ minutes. Ben Simmons was the first Net in double figures with 10 points.

The teams scored 10 points a piece to open the 2nd quarter with 6:34 left as they entered a mandatory timeout.

Kevin Durant had three blocks in the first half, including this gem at the rim.

A three-point shooting barrage from Brooklyn had them storm back into it and take the lead, 57-54. Phoenix came back with a 7-2 run of their own to regain a 2-point lead.

The teams entered the half knotted up at 63.

Second Half

Brooklyn jumped out to an early 10-3 scoring advantage in the 3rd quarter, pushing their lead to 7. Phoenix’s energy looked flat in the opening 7 minutes and the Nets capitalized.

The Nets’ dominance continued with the lead ballooning to 14 after a Dennis Schroeder layup. The legs looked tired from their second game in as many nights, but on the other hand, they had nearly a week off before this back-to-back. Any way you slice it, Brooklyn’s energy was much higher in the 2nd and 3rd quarters.

A Kevin Durant rim attack pushed the Suns to within 7, trailing 84-77. Brooklyn followed up the KD dunk with a timeout with 3:18 remaining in the quarter.

A lot of whistles were blown, mostly against Phoenix in the final minutes of the 3rd quarter. An irate Mike Budenholzer picked up a technical foul to let them know about it. A lot of 50-50 plays were bouncing Brooklyn’s way and they took advantage.

The Nets led 96-84 heading into the 4th quarter.

The 4th opened with the teams trading buckets early, but the Suns did make an effort to attack downhill early in the quarter. Just when the Suns cut the lead to 10, the Nets went on a 5-0 run to push it back to 15.

Bradley Beal sprained his ankle and that was followed by a Tyrese Martin three. That about summed up the night.

Brooklyn could not miss and the Suns made careless mistakes.

Up Next?

Phoenix will get a couple of days off before hosting the Golden State Warriors in the Footprint Center on Saturday night.