The Phoenix Suns played a complete game tonight against the San Antonio Spurs as they won by a final score of 115-94.
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!Devin Booker led the way with 27 points on 9-21 shooting and Deandre Ayton had a double-double with 19 points and 11 rebounds.
With the win tonight the Suns clinched a playoff spot in the Western Conference for a third straight season and will be the fourth seed come playoff time.
The #PhoenixSuns are headed back to the playoffs for a third straight year! pic.twitter.com/m2JazEExrc
— Burn City Sports (@BurnCitySports) April 5, 2023
There were a couple key things that happened tonight that allowed the Suns to be clicking on all cylinders to clinch a playoff spot for a third straight year. Here’s a list of just that.
An Aggressive Chris Paul
Chris Paul was phenomenal tonight shooting as he helped offset the tempo for double teams that came at Kevin Durant tonight.
His mid-range arsenal was in full display and he ended up finishing the game with 22 points on 9/14 shooting from the floor.
At one point in the first half, he was a perfect 5/5 from the floor and 4/4 on three point shooting and the Suns were leading by 31. An aggressive Chris Paul makes the Suns even more dangerous and Monty Williams as well as Devin Booker believes so as well.
Monty Williams talks about Chris Paul’s awesome shooting night. Is happy to see him shoot the ball in rhythm and he has been driving KD and Booker crazy because they all want him to shoot.#WeAreTheValley#NBA pic.twitter.com/i5648KWAuq
— Burn City Sports (@BurnCitySports) April 5, 2023
Devin Booker agrees with Monty Williams comment on Chris Paul shooting night and echoes the same thoughts on wanting home to be more aggressive shooting on the court.#WeAreTheValley#NBA pic.twitter.com/28EPgNb4YT
— Franklin Miller III (@MillerSports3) April 5, 2023
It’s obvious the team wants Chris Paul to be more aggressive shooting the basketball and only time will tell if that continues. Paul has always been a high IQ player that lets the game come to him.
With more off ball movement, slashing and double teams moving towards Booker and Durant, Paul will have more than enough open looks to capitalize yo help the team be more dangerous.
Torrey Craig’s Hustle Plays
He may not have started, but one can argue outside of Chris Paul, Torrey Craig was the teams MVP tonight. He finished the game with a double double as he had 15 points and 10 rebounds on 7-9 shooting.
One of the things that Craig brought off the bench for the team didn’t necessarily come from scoring, it showed up in the third quarter when the Suns lead was stalling and faltering which led Craig to bring the energy to not let the lead slip.
Whether it was offensive boards, alley oop dunks or great passing on slashing opportunities, it helped get the Suns lead from 9 back to 20+ points real quick.
Craig after the game discussed about the teams third quarter struggles as of late and how his energy sparked up momentum for them to finish strong.
Torrey Craig discusses about his third quarter hustle plays and why the Suns have been struggling in the third quarter as of late against teams.#WeAreTheValley #NBA pic.twitter.com/0fd41JsXab
— Franklin Miller III (@MillerSports3) April 5, 2023
Craig’s energy was the key in tonight’s win to help clinch the playoffs and that energy will be needed even more come playoff time. Head coach Monty Williams also alluded to it after the game.
”I thought Torrey his energy and effort bailed us out tonight, Williams said. “Yo have a double-double and the way he played, the defense that he played I thought it gave us a lot of juice.”
The Suns next game is on Thursday against the 1 seeded Nuggets which could be a preview of a potential playoff matchup. Only time will tell but for now the Suns are just excited to have clinched a playoff spot for a third straight season.
