The Phoenix Suns fell into a trap game and lost 104-102 to the now 16-56 San Antonio Spurs missing their best player in Victor Wembanyama.
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!Devin Booker had 36 points, six rebounds, four assists and three blocks in the loss, but Phoenix (42-30) looked way out of sorts coming off a 25-point win over the same team Saturday.
With the win, the Spurs somehow finished the season series 3-1 against the Suns.
“It’s unacceptable to lose that game for our guys,” Suns’ coach Frank Vogel said postgame. “We all said the right things, we all did the right preparation to come in, but we didn’t play with the necessary focus and disposition throughout I would say the first half, and you give a team like that life, and that’s how the NBA works. They get going, they get charged up, and they start believing they can have a chance to win it. Credit those guys, with Victor out and those guys played really well.”
Jeremy Sochan had 26 points, 18 rebounds and hit the game-winning shot for San Antonio. Devin Vassell notched 26 points and seven assists.
JEREMY SOCHAN'S CLUTCH THREE IS THE GAME-WINNER.
Spurs hold on for the 104-102 W 😤 pic.twitter.com/eKQerkGWV4
— NBA (@NBA) March 26, 2024
After finally winning the turnover battle Saturday for the first time in eight games, the Suns lost it again tonight. Phoenix had 14 turnovers to the Spurs’ seven.
“It’s part of the whole totality of the game. We weren’t as focused as we needed to be,” Vogel said of the turnovers.
Why weren’t the Suns focused?
“I don’t know. If I knew, it wouldn’t happen,” Vogel said.
Royce O’Neale (12 points) was the only player outside of Booker and Kevin Durant (29 points) to score in double figures.
“I didn’t coach my best game, none of our guys played their best game, and we missed an opportunity,” Vogel said.
Not only did the Suns lose the game, Bradley Beal and Jusuf Nurkić were injured.
Beal has a sprained right ring finger, but X-rays were negative, Vogel said. Beal subbed out with 2:51 remaining in the game.
Bradley Beal grabbing right hand after Suns cut lead to 2. On the bench out of the break. Suns doing much better defensively #Spurs 99 – #Suns 97, 2:51 4Q
— Burn City Suns Talk 🎙️ (@BurnCitySuns) March 26, 2024
Meanwhile, Nurkić has a sprained right ankle after stepping on the foot of Sochan in the third quarter. Neither returned after suffering their injuries.
Beal finished with nine points on 4-of-11 shooting, six assists and five rebounds in 30 minutes. Nurkić had six points on 3-of-9 shooting, nine rebounds, four assists and two blocks in 19 minutes.
Nurkic rolled his ankle on Sochans foot here pic.twitter.com/3tZPRQJQlu
— Cage (@ridiculouscage) March 26, 2024
Nothing gets easier from here on out, as the Suns next take on the Denver Nuggets on the road Wednesday (via ESPN).
“We like out chances against anyone, not worried about the schedule,” Vogel said.
The Suns sure look to be a play-in team at this point and now fall from sixth to eighth place in the Western Conference.
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Brendan Mau is a senior writer covering the Phoenix Suns and more for Burn City Sports. You can follow him on X via @Brendan_Mau
