Phoenix Suns fans have booed their team several times this season because of their shortcomings and continued to into the team’s first home playoff game, a 126-109 loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves, as the Suns now find themselves down 3-0 in their first-round matchup.
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!“Rightfully so,” said Suns’ star guard Devin Booker on the fans booing the team.
“That’s sports. (If) you’re getting your butt kicked at home, the fans are gonna boo, I don’t blame them,” coach Frank Vogel said about the boos.
The fans really began the booing in the third quarter, as the Suns were dominated in the period for the third-straight game, losing it 36-20. The Suns have been outscored 95-61 in third quarters this series and haven’t scored more than 21 points in the quarter.
We've got boos at Footprint Center. #Timberwolves with their biggest lead of the game at 83-64 with 4:51 left in the 3Q. T-Wolves winning the third quarter 24-11, shooting 9-for-13 (69%) from the floor 5-for-6 (85%) from 3 vs. 4-for-12 (33%) and 0-for-4 from 3 for #Suns
— Burn City Suns Talk 🎙️ (@BurnCitySuns) April 27, 2024
“Every loss in the playoffs is (frustrating),” Booker said .”We put ourselves in a hole. We got to dig ourselves out of it, that’s that.”
The fans took it a step further in the fourth quarter, as some were chanting “Fire Vogel” at Vogel.
“We want this real bad, so it’s disappointing, it’s frustrating,” Vogel said postgame. “We’re all very invested in this. We’re pouring everything we have into trying to bring these fans a team they can be proud of, we feel like we can still do that but we haven’t played well enough in this series.”
It simply is inexplicable how much the Suns have underachieved this season with a roster centered around Booker, Kevin Durant and Bradley Beal. Fans are making it known how displeased they are with the team, and the Suns certainly recognize it.
Devin Booker, Bradley Beal and Kevin Durant will earn $150M next season.
The salary of the three players is more than 14 teams total payroll in 2024-25.
— Bobby Marks (@BobbyMarks42) April 27, 2024
No team has ever come back from a 3-0 deficit (0-151).
Game 4 is on Sunday at 6:30 p.m. MST. The Suns will be looking to avoid their first series sweep since 1999, when the Blazers beat them 3-0 in a best-of-5 first-round series. They haven’t been swept 4-0 since 1989 when the Lakers did so in the Western Conference Finals.
Suns fans chant ‘Fire Vogel’ during Game 3 loss to Timberwolves
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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
