Making his debut for his new team, Nick Richards was one of the many bright spots for the Phoenix Suns as they narrowly beat the resurgent Detroit Pistons 125-121.
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!Off the bench, Richards instantly fitted right in, posting 21 points and 11 rebounds for a double-double for the Suns (21-20). Kevin Durant led all players in scoring with 36 points and Devin Booker had 35.
Pistons (21-21) center Jalen Duren (15 points, 10 rebounds) and guard Cade Cunningham (20 points, 11 assists) both finished with double-doubles. Tobias Harris reached a team-high 21 points while Malik Beasley added 14 as a sub.
Throughout the entire game, it was a back-and-forth affair with neither team being able to create a marginal lead over the other. Phoenix never trailed at the end of each quarter and was able to prevail despite shooting 7-for-25 (28%) from 3.
Now owning a winning record, Suns fans were joyous over the fact that Richards was impressive and the team beat a Pistons squad who is 10-4 in their last 14 games.
Here is some of what the Suns faithful said about Richards and the victory:
Nick Richards is the real deal people. #SunsUp pic.twitter.com/Y7FOHXjHH5
— ????????????????????????☆ (@Stunna999_) January 18, 2025
Nick richards already doing more than what nurkic and plumlee have done all season???????? pic.twitter.com/SH7bxhzEFF
— Trey5 (@CookedbyTrey5) January 18, 2025
I’ve seen enough – Nick Richards is the best big the Suns have had since Amare Stoudemire.
— ☀️ (@iamjserna) January 18, 2025
Devin Booker has 5 straight 30+ point games
Let that sit in#SunsUp
— ???????????????????? (@Suns_Armband) January 18, 2025
Book in Detroit = ????#SunsUp
— Hugh Patrick (@HughPatrick48) January 18, 2025
Look at the impact Nick Richards brings to this Suns team, wish they could some how get in another player before deadline #SunsUp
— T-moses⚽️???? (@tmostunna) January 18, 2025
Get @KDTrey5 out the game! Dawg is missing layups,can’t catch a pass, and can’t even make a pass????????????♂️ My boy needs to sit this game out and #Sunsup will move
— JesusisKing1 (@KingJesusis1) January 18, 2025
Well I think it’s pretty safe to say that Nick Richards is the starting center going forward for the Suns!
— Heath Gundo (@HeathGundo) January 18, 2025
KEVIN DURANTTTTTTTTTTTT
— Phoenix Suns Türkiye ???????? (@suns_turkey) January 18, 2025
Tip of the hat to @iamnickrichards for about as good of a @suns debut as fans could have hoped to see.
— Andrew Clark (@jandrewclark) January 18, 2025
BOOK AND KD FRYING ANYBODY WHO GET IN THE WAY
— Suns Roster Reconstruction Theorist ☀️ (@Teejaveli) January 18, 2025
Nick Richard’s literally might save the suns ????????????????,
That’s how bad the center rotation was
— Rob (@RobWc3rd) January 18, 2025
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Reporter Alec Cipollini covers the Phoenix Suns, Arizona Diamondbacks, ASU Athletics and more for Burn City Sports. You can follow him on his X account, @AlecCipollini
