PHOENIX — Here is the tale of the tape at Footprint Center as the Phoenix Suns look to get their first two-game win streak in a month against the Utah Jazz today at 3 p.m. MST:
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!Injury report
– After being listed as out the last five games, Royce O’Neale was upgraded to doubtful ahead of the game today. He was officially listed out pregame and Suns coach Mike Budenholzer informed the media that he would be out for Sunday’s matchup against the Charlotte Hornets.
– Collin Sexton (Left Fourth Finger DIP avulsion Fracture) and Oscar Tshiebwe (Left Fourth Finger Extensor Tendon Tear) are available. Johnny Juzang (Right Hand Soreness), Brice Sensabaugh (Illness), Jordan Clarkson (Left Plantar Fasciitis), John Collins (Left Hip/injury Management), Keyonte George (Left Heel Inflammation) and Taylor Hendricks (Right Fibula Fracture) are all out.
Pregame quotes
Suns coach Mike Budenholzer
On what the team wants to build on from the last game: “I think the defense in the second half stood out. I think activity and competing on the boards, finding a way to get some tough rebounds, getting on the floor, getting big stops. Offensively, just kind of playing together with some good possessions of unselfishness and randomness. So, we just have to keep building on that kind of, like you said.”
On what he thinks about the smaller sized lineups so far: “Yeah, no, I thought there was a good stretch where Oso (Ighodaro) probably got some comfort level switching. And then also just playing Ryan (Dunn) and Kevin (Durant) kind of as the bigs and switching in that environment too. So again, hopefully it’s an area where we can keep kind of sprinkling that in.”
On Walker Kessler’s rebounding affecting game plans: “Yeah. I mean, you can’t run until you get the board. The possession is not complete until you get a board. So, it’s the age-old dynamic. Can we hurt them in transition as they try to hurt us on the offensive boards? Hopefully, we can scrap and find a way to get rebounds. It’s not just Walker, I think their whole group is crashing, and hopefully that makes them vulnerable to us in transition.”
Jazz coach Will Hardy
On what you have improved on the most: “We’re first in three-point field goal percentage defense over the last five, some of that is variance. I think that we’ve improved. I think we’ve made some of the right people take those threes. But you also know you can play five games in the NBA where people make more than they should. So, I don’t put a ton of stock in that, but we’re also first in defensive rebounding, which early in the season was a huge issue for us. That improvement is probably the one that I’m clinging to the most. We’ve also been top five in not fouling, which, again, depending on how you look at that stat, sometimes when you’re not fouling, you’re not very disruptive. Maybe we don’t force enough turnovers in those settings. So again, that stat, to me, is one where I’m on the fence, if I like it. It looks good at the end when the other team doesn’t shoot that many free throws. But again, we’ve also had moments in the season where teams are scoring way too much and we’re not fouling. So, I think we’ve just probably been smarter with our hands. But the defensive rebounding is the one I think that stands out the most.”
On what it means seeing Bradley Beal come off the bench: “Yeah, I think so. It hasn’t been going on for that long, they’re still feeling it out, and as an opponent, you’re still not quite sure what the reality of it is. I do try to prepare for a (Bradley) Beal centric part of the game, because that’s what I would anticipate at some point. But I also can’t predict the future, so I think when he’s on the court by himself, you go back to what you’ve seen Brad (Bradley Beal) do over the course of his career and try to be ready for some of those things. I think the balance is key. We talk about it a lot with our team, where people get very caught up in who starts and who doesn’t. But there’s 48 minutes in the game, and you want to try to avoid lulls also, who starts does not always indicate who’s going to finish the game. So, I’ve been fortunate in my time in the NBA to be around guys like Manu Ginobili, who came off the bench my entire time when I was with him, but he was also always in at the end. It didn’t take away from the fact that he was one of the best players on our team, just because he wasn’t out there at tip off.”
On team cohesion at this point in the season: “I think they’re understanding of each other has helped with the communication. And we’ve talked a little bit in some of these press conferences about the emotion in the game, and when things aren’t going well, there is a high level of emotion in a time out or in the locker room at halftime, and I think that our team is navigating that really well. I think they understand each other better now than at the beginning of the season. We’ve never had moments this year where the team has like, gone at each other, but I think in those moments of high emotion, when there’s tension and there’s pressure, giving each other the benefit of a doubt, when we’re communicating like, hey, I don’t have time to package this up perfectly right now. I need to just be short and to the point, and that doesn’t mean that I think you’re a failure or you’re doing something terrible. We just had to get this fixed, and that’s coaches and players communicating. But more importantly, it’s when the players communicate with each other. They don’t take things personally. So, I think the relationships growing on the court and off the court as the season goes helps those things and those moments.”
Starting lineups
Phoenix Suns starting lineup vs. Utah Jazz
Tyus Jones
Devin Booker
Kevin Durant
Ryan Dunn
Mason Plumlee#SunsUp #NBA #TakeNote— Burn City Suns ☀️ (@BurnCitySuns) January 11, 2025
Utah Jazz starting lineup vs. Phoenix Suns
Collin Sexton
Isaiah Collier
Micah Potter
Lauri Markkanen
Walker Kessler#SunsUp #NBA #TakeNote— Burn City Suns ☀️ (@BurnCitySuns) January 11, 2025
*Get the BEST Phoenix sports insider information, and exclusive content. SIGN UP HERE to unlock our premium content!*
Reporter Connor Moreno covers the Phoenix Suns for Burn City Sports. You can follow him on his X account, @cmorenosports, and on Bluesky, @cloading.bsky.social
