During their first nine games of the season, the Phoenix Suns always seemed to find a way to win, going 8-1 to begin the year and 7-0 in clutch games (games decided by less than five points).
After this hot start, the Suns lost then the NBA leader in clutch points in and early MVP candidate Kevin Durant to a left calf strain, which he is scheduled to be re-evaluated for on Saturday. Phoenix split its first two games without Durant.
Bradley Beal next went down for the Suns, also to a left calf strain, and he has yet to return from his injury. Without both Durant and Beal, Phoenix has now dropped four-straight games after a 109-99 defeat at the hands of the Orlando Magic Monday and suddenly an 8-1 start has to turned into a 9-6 record.
Teams have been able to load up on Devin Booker during this stretch, and Booker and the rest of the Suns have simply not been able to connect on their shots consistently with Beal and Durant sidelined. Phoenix has been outscored by an average of 13 points per game during its four-game skid with only one of these matchups decided by single digits.
“I think we’re still figuring it out,” Suns point guard Tyus Jones said. “We’re asking Book to do a lot. It’s a lot of pressure on him, it’s a lot of focus on him. They’re physical with him, they hold and grab him all night, they’re throwing two bodies at him.
“It’s a lot on his plate, and we just got to continue to find ways to get him open the times that we can, and also continue to help him out with other guys making shots and making plays.”
Coach Mike Budenholzer discussed how the locker room is weathering the storm of injuries in the midst of the losing streak and having six games in nine days.
“These guys, I think, stay together,” Budenholzer said. “It’s a good group, they’ve got a good spirit. They’ve got a good way about them, through good times and the hard times. You got to keep doing like coming to work, putting your individual time in, put your team time in and keep your head up. This group will do that. They’re very good. They’re very resilient.”
“These guys stay together. It's a good group, they've got a good spirit. They've got a good way about them, through good times and the hard times.”#Suns coach Mike Budenholzer on the mentality of the locker room weathering the storm of injuries in midst of 4 straight losses pic.twitter.com/EjZmj97t9h
— Burn City Suns ☀️ (@BurnCitySuns) November 19, 2024
Jones concurred with Budenholzer on what the feeling is in the locker room.
“It’s a long season. There’s ups and downs of the season,” Jones said. “There’s times when we’re going to be playing great ball. There’s times when we’re going to be struggling to get a win, like right now. You just got to continue to push through.
“You got to try to stay somewhere in the middle, and just try to continue to improve as a group because we know what our what our goals are. You can’t win the championship in November, so you got to continue to grow each and every day and just stay with it.”
Phoenix plays one more game in a stretch of where it has had only one day or no days off in between games since Oct. 31 on Wednesday against the New York Knicks, and then gets a much-needed five-day break without any games where the whole team can rest and recover.
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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
