The Phoenix Suns flew into Atlanta riding high on a three-game win streak, but something about State Farm Arena continues to thwart them. The last time the franchise beat the Hawks in their home, on March 24, 2014, Devin Booker was a senior at Moss Point High School. Tuesday marked their 11th straight L in Atlanta.
The Suns’ 122-117 defeat saw the Hawks, who had their last home game canceled due to winter storms, outhustle the visitors and sink big shots late to squash a fourth quarter comeback. At the 6:40 mark the game was tied at 101, but Phoenix just ran out of fuel. Trae Young hit a 36-foot dagger, his feet nearly brushing the half-court logo, to put the game away with 1:28 to go.
The Hawks point guard finished the game with 43 points on 31 shot attempts.
For Phoenix, the loss continues the team’s inability to orchestrate an extended stretch of solid basketball against awful to average opponents. Those three consecutive wins were more than they had strung together since their 8-1 start to the season.
Now 19-20, the would-be superteam labors toward the trade deadline dangling Bradley Beal and Jusuf Nurkic as bait in hopes of bring in pieces that will propel them over the hump.
Phoenix Suns Torched by Hawks’ Onslaught of O-Boards
At home versus the Hawks on Thursday, the Suns held nearly a 9 percent advantage on made field goals, 57.6% to 48.8% in the 123-115 victory. Tuesday, they knocked down 51.2% of shots to Atlanta’s 43.9%.
The difference? Phoenix managed only 84 attempts while Young and the Hawks chucked up fourteen more. Each team made the same number of field goals and Atlanta was better on threes.
To get those extra shots, the Hawks straight bullied the Suns on the offensive glass, cleaning up 20 OREB to the Suns’ 6 for an overall margin of 54 to 37. Backup center Onyeka Okongwu led the way with 10 offensive rebounds out of 21 total, in addition to scoring 22 points.
Devin Booker put up 31 for Phoenix and Kevin Durant added 35 PTS, 8 REB and 6 AST, but getting bludgeoned on the boards and put in a blender on defense is hard to overcome even with two of the best scorers on the planet.
Kevin Durant, Devin Booker Can’t Do It All With Offense: Suns in Desperate Need of Starting Center
Coach Mike Budenholzer addressed the issues on the glass, as well as whether there is anything the Suns can implement rotation-wise to help, potentially by including Bol Bol (8 GP, 6.1 MPG), who is 7’3” and can make threes but has defensive flaws.
“I mean it starts with just everybody who’s out there has to participate, everybody’s who out there has got to commit to going and rebounding. Are there other guys or other things that we can maybe do to help our rebounding? We got to look at that and see where we can get better, but everybody that’s out there has got to make a commitment to go get it. That’s where it always starts.”
The center position remains a glaring hole on the roster. Mason Plumlee (4.0 PPG, 6.5 RPG) got the start against Atlanta, per usual since the team benched Nurkic 5 games ago (he hasn’t played in 4). At 6’10”, he is already a bit undersized and lacks agility or explosiveness.
His backup, rookie 7-footer Oso Ighodaro (4.2 PPG, 3.8 RPG), provides size and energy but is what he is–a rookie. The two of them combined for 7 PTS and 10 REB (0 offensive).
The Suns have clearly moved Nurkic to the bargain bin. The sooner they can get a deal done to bring in a capable, starting-caliber center, the better.
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