It’s not time to panic.
When Kevin Durant plays, the Phoenix Suns are 8-1 this season. When at least two of Kevin Durant, Devin Booker, and Bradley Beal play, the Phoenix Suns are 9-2.
Please reread those two sentences. Again. Okay, one more time.
The Phoenix Suns are a good basketball team this season when they have their stars on the court. They’ve shown they can close games, and the chemistry has improved for late-game situations this season.
So which is more real, their 7-game win streak or their current 5-game losing streak?
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The problem seems to be availability rather than ability. That’s another legitimate concern, and I would not fault you for worrying about it.
How many more games will we get with Durant, Booker, and Beal all available? How many games will we get with at least two of them available? Those questions will be directly correlated with the regular-season success (or demise) of this team.
Same, But Different
This is not last year’s team in the sense that even with all three guys, they didn’t have the pieces to win games. With all this talk about the big three’s inability to stay healthy, it would be remiss to not mention that they all in fact were healthy during the Minnesota series last season when they were swept.
So what is the difference? Time, for one. Getting more familiar with each other’s game has helped, and the reps from the limited games together last season, the offseason workouts, and training camp have sprinkled into clutch time wins.
Adding Tyus Jones and Monte Morris has stabilized the point guard position. The rookies have been awesome. Mason Plumlee has been a clear upgrade over Drew Eubanks. Royce O’Neale looks comfortable in his role after getting more time to click with this group.
It’s a better core, plain and simple.
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The Coaching
Along with the roster improving, the early returns on Mike Budenholzer have been promising. All things considered, his job is to win games so the last line being typed out during a 5-game losing streak may seem counterintuitive, but context is everything.
So far, when the Suns are at least relatively healthy, Coach Bud has delivered. He has shown he is willing to make adjustments on the fly and pull key players for the sake of improving their odds in certain matchups to close games.
He isn’t afraid to experiment and make quick decisions based on those experiments if they are not working. The key is finding a balance of “win-now” while also figuring out the best long-term lineup combinations, adjustments, and more.
He’ll start two bigs. He’ll go small. He’ll bench Nurkic for a half. He’ll play rookies heavy minutes. Budenholzer has a good idea of what to do with this team when healthy but understands when they are not there needs to be aggressive decision-making.
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The two losses that sting the most are the overtime loss in Sacramento and the buzzer-beater (travel) by Julius Randle in Minnesota. Those are two games that they undoubtedly win with Kevin Durant in those closing lineups.
A couple of bounces here or there and they are 11-5 right now. This isn’t horseshoes or hand grenades though, so being close is a moot point — though it illustrates the big picture with this team.
Kevin Durant has been their MVP and solidified himself as a top-5 player in the NBA despite concerns over his age, handle, and ability to handle physicality.
He is still him. And he’s back soon.
— Phoenix Suns (@Suns) November 24, 2024
Kevin Durant and Bradley Beal (left calf strains) both fully practiced and scrimmaged on Sunday and are on track to return tomorrow against the Lakers.
Coach Bud hits on a point that I enjoyed, as their return is not just an offensive boost. It gives the defense a lift as well. Phoenix’s defensive rating was among the league’s best with Durant and Beal playing and has fallen off a cliff in their absence.
“Everybody thinks about the offensive boost, but I think there’s a defensive boost we get with those two guys.”
Mike Budenholzer on the lift that having Kevin Durant and Bradley Beal back would provide: pic.twitter.com/WUIXURg8Z0
— PHNX Suns (@PHNX_Suns) November 24, 2024
That is not solely a product of them, because the depth taking a hit doesn’t help them on that end and in turn, expands the roles of others. That domino effect has been felt on both sides of the basketball.
It’s not time to panic during a frustrating 5-game losing streak. The team is back and let’s hope the health lasts for the foreseeable future.