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Frank Vogel says Suns didn’t keep their composure in Game 2 loss to Timberwolves

© Brad Rempel-USA TODAY Sports

Phoenix Suns coach Frank Vogel kept it short and honest about the Suns’ struggles down the stretch in their 105-93 Game 2 loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves.

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“We didn’t keep our composure,” Vogel said.

The Suns were outscored 55-42 in the second-half after leading by one at halftime and now face an 0-2 series deficit. Several times throughout the second half, the Suns and Vogel had words with the officials.

Phoenix committed 22 fouls to 21 for the T-Wolves throughout the night and 13 in the second half compared to 10 for Minnesota. Devin Booker picked up three fouls in the fourth quarter alone and fouled out with six total with 2:17 left.

“We can’t let the refs distract our focus,” Vogel said. “The refs didn’t beat us, the T-Wolves did. We got some bad calls, but that happens in every game. It happened both ways. We have to be locked in, and we can’t let that distract our focus. When they’re scoring on us, and we’re not getting the right stops, we can’t not be organized offensively. And we had too many possessions like that.”

Vogel later added that this was the first time all season the Suns didn’t keep their composure.

“We’ve been a pretty poised group throughout the course of the season, came back in a lot of fourth quarters when we’ve been down, stay locked into the game.” Vogel said. “The emotions are higher in the playoffs. The NBA Playoffs will test your emotional stability.

“We got to make sure that as our first time going through this together as a group, when we face adversity, we have to respond to it. And we didn’t handle it well enough tonight, we’ll learn from it and be better going forward.”

So how does Vogel coach when close calls go against his team?

“Next play, you let the refs hear about it,” Vogel said. “Hopefully, they can understand that maybe they missed a couple, and it swings back your way. You try to do the best you can with that. But your group’s got to turn their focus to the next play. It’s something we talked about before the playoffs even started. Things are gonna go wrong in certain stretches, whether it’s our offense or defense, foul trouble, the refs. Things are gonna go wrong at certain points in the playoffs, and you have to have a next play mindset. You have to execute the next action, locked into to what’s happening next, not what has happened previously.”

A lot of people, even Anthony Edwards are mocking the Suns’ constant complaining to the referees, which was also a theme in Game 1. Some fans at the game even had shirts with pictures of Devin Booker complaining.

The stats on the teams’ composure run deeper than just the fouls. Minnesota forced 19 turnovers by Phoenix and outscored them 31-2 in points off turnovers.

“We got to handle their pressure better,” Vogel said. “I thought we found some things in the first half that worked really well, in terms of our movement and passing cut offense. We didn’t sustain it when they went on runs. We didn’t stay locked into that plan, had too many lost possessions because of it. But, we’ve had issues with that throughout the course of the year, of taking care of the basketball. It reared its head tonight. This team is an elite defensive team, the best defensive team in the league that we’re playing against, so you have to execute.”

The Suns’ Big 3 finished a combined 18-for-45 from the floor with 12 of the team’s 19 turnovers, while each playing over 40 minutes. Booker had 20 points (6-of-13 shooting, 1-of-6 from 3), five assists, three rebounds, six fouls, six turnovers and was a -24 in terms of plus/minus. Kevin Durant was also a -24, as he had 18 points (6-of-15 shooting, 0-of-2 from 3), six rebounds, two assists and two turnovers. Bradley Beal finished with 14 points on 6-of-17 shooting (2-of-4 from 3), six assists, four rebounds and four turnovers and was a -21.

No matter all of this, Vogel is remaining confident in his team.

“We got a great team,” Vogel said. “We’ve shown that throughout stretches. We’ve had our bumps in the road as you would expect with a group that’s put together in year one … It hasn’t been an easy run for us, but through those bumps in the road, we’ve responded and gotten better from them. And we played some of our best basketball down the stretch. It’s our first time going through it in the playoffs. Okay, more adversity, we’ll handle it, and we’ll get better from it. I’m very confident in what our games are gonna look like in Game 3 and Game 4.”

Game 3 is on Friday in Phoenix at 7:30 p.m. MST, as the Suns will look to respond in front of their home crowd for the first time and not lose their composure once again.

Frank Vogel Highlights Positives Despite Tough Loss

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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

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