For the second time in 11 days, Grayson Allen hit nine threes in a single game, as the Phoenix Suns (22-18) came back from down 22 in the fourth quarter to pull off a 119-117 victory over the Sacramento Kings (23-17).
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!These nine three-pointers tied Allen’s career high and the Suns’ franchise record. He reached this same exact milestone in the Suns’ Jan. 5 victory over the Miami Heat, which was the first time in his career he hit nine threes. Overall, he went 9-of-14 from deep against the Kings.
“A lot of good offense, a lot of good ball movement,” said Allen, who finished with a team-high 29 points to go along with six assists and five rebounds. “A lot of them were off of somebody else collapsing the defense (and) kicking it out. (Jusuf Nurkić) made a lot of good passes being that roller, when they want to trap the ball, and we can get it to Nurk really quick on that half roll and let him be a decision-maker to finish at the rim, hit a cutter, hit someone in the corner for three, he did a great job of that tonight. A lot of them were assisted.”
Allen was the only reason the Suns were in this game until the fourth quarter, as he hit six threes in the first half. Allen started off the game with all of the Suns’ three-point makes, going 6-of-7, while the rest of the team began 0-of-5 from long range.
Grayson Allen has all six of the #Suns made threes tonight
pic.twitter.com/1dJdBM7d0l— Burn City Suns Talk 🎙️ (@BurnCitySuns) January 17, 2024
“We weren’t running anything specifically for me,” Allen said. “It was just in the flow of our offense. Spaced out, guys were making the extra pass, drawing extra defenders, and I was on the receiving end of it.”
Grayson Allen on his 9 made threes (T-career high and T-#Suns franchise record)
“We weren't running anything specifically for me. It was just in the flow of our offense. Spaced out, guys were making the extra pass, drawing extra defenders, and I was on the receiving end of it.” https://t.co/fNWB3DVysl pic.twitter.com/2k9j8RaW8N
— Burn City Suns Talk 🎙️ (@BurnCitySuns) January 17, 2024
Allen is now second in the NBA in three-point percentage at 48.0%. Ironically, he is one percentage point behind Milwaukee Bucks guard Malik Beasley, who is shooting 48.1% from deep. Beasley is pretty much Allen’s replacement in Milwaukee.
Fourth quarter comeback
Allen ended up being a huge part of the Suns’ comeback, as Phoenix shifted to a four-guard lineup with Kevin Durant at the center for the majority of the final period. The Suns, who found themselves down 22 with 8:10 remaining, closed out the game on an incredible 32-8 run.
Allen was a +21 in the nine minutes he played in the fourth, going 2-of-2 from deep and posting three assists, two rebounds, a steal and a block.
“A lot of it was us bringing some energy on the bench,” Allen said when asked about how the Suns stayed in the game. “Still talking through the game, talking through it defensively. Offensively, we went through some lulls, but we knew that we were kind of figuring out where we could attack them.”
Allen then gave a powerful message to Suns fans about the energy in the building for allowing the Suns to comeback.
“It was a lot about energy,” Allen said. “The energy of the building was bad at points tonight, like the crowd was booing, which I wish we would work together with the crowd, like I understand we weren’t playing well. They paid for their tickets, they can come out and cheer however they want to. But man, when we’re down, like we want to be a great home-court team, and we have such a great crowd. It was so loud tonight, like I wish they would cheer us on and help give us some energy in those times too. But in the fourth quarter, when we went on that run, the crowd was incredible. It was the loudest I’d heard it all season.
“When you have that kind of energy from the crowd, you’re getting stops, you’re running up and down the court, hitting threes, like it’s just flowing. You have so much momentum. Everything is clicking. It’s a great spot to be in as a team, you feel like you’re doing everything perfect. You feel like everything’s gonna go right and part of that momentum, that feeling from the crowd, that feeling of being on that run, is why we made all those shots because we’re getting good looks. We made all of them because of the energy the building, the energy the game. One of the things I just wish is that us and the crowd would work together a little bit more.”
Grayson Allen gave a lot of credit to the energy in the building for how the #Suns stayed with it to pull off their 22-point 4Q comeback. He said “the energy of the building was bad at points” before the fans became the loudest he heard them all season in the fourth. https://t.co/OCfbNxJxs2 pic.twitter.com/r58v6OMqtd
— Burn City Suns Talk 🎙️ (@BurnCitySuns) January 17, 2024
Kevin Durant shares thoughts on Grayson Allen’s performance
The Phoenix Suns have shared a ton of praise for Allen since he was acquired from the Bucks on Sept. 27 in the three-team trade that sent Deandre Ayton to Portland. Nights like tonight prove exactly why.
Kevin Durant, who spearheaded the Suns’ comeback with 15 points and incredible defensive effort, was very complimentary of Allen postgame.
“He’s come here to Phoenix and showed everybody in the basketball world the different parts of his game,” Durant said. “We all looked at him as just a 3-and-D guy, but he can pretty much do it all on the offensive side of the ball. Maybe not post up, maybe he need to come to my academy this summer to post up. But, he could do a lot of things on the court. I’m glad he’s expanding his game and shooting the ball with confidence.”
Allen is averaging career highs across the board this season in every major statistical category and percentages.
“A lot of this stuff is situations,” Durant said. “A lot of times you got to sacrifice your full game to help maximize somebody else’s game, and that’s what Grayson was doing in Milwaukee. He had to be a space-out, shooter guy. I mean, they got guys that can (ball) handle in Giannis (Antetokounmpo), Jrue (Holiday) and Khris Middleton, and I think here we try to have a multiple ball-handler attack. We want everybody to be at their best. But all his experiences throughout the league have helped him up to this point, and all that stuff matters when it comes to him being a good player now, so just keep building from there.”
Durant wants the rest of the Suns to use Allen’s three-point shooting as an example.
“We need everybody to do that,” Durant said. “37 (team attempted) threes today, I mean, we’ve been shooting 26, 27 threes before. So we starting to get up there with other team and matching them at the three-point line, and that’s gonna help us win games.”
Kevin Durant on Grayson Allen: “(Based on his past NBA experience), we all looked at him as pretty much just a 3&D guy, but he can pretty much do it all on the offensive side of the ball. Maybe not post up, maybe he need to come to my academy this summer to post up.” #Suns https://t.co/2OYh2H3zcd pic.twitter.com/1iiGdwj8gQ
— Burn City Suns Talk 🎙️ (@BurnCitySuns) January 17, 2024
The Suns will look to build off this incredible comeback win Friday night in New Orleans against the Pelicans (24-17).
Kevin Durant had “no clue” how Suns pulled off 22-point 4th quarter comeback over Kings
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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
