Quick Recap: Suns sleep walk to a loss

Welp.

The Suns had one of their worst games of the year, losing 123-110 to the league-worst Atlanta Hawks. The Hawks had only won 2 of their last 17 games.

And not even looking like they much cared about it, except for a few guys.

Devin Booker looked like the only one who cared at times, scoring 39 points in 34 minutes (minus-1 on the scoreboard), until he was ejected for wanting a foul on a slam dunk for his 39th points.

The Phoenix Suns came out lacking focus and effort, probably tied to their floor general Ricky Rubio being out for the birth of his first child. Without Rubio, the Suns had very little offensive control outside of “give the ball to Devin Booker” which of course only works when you get him the ball.

The Suns could have prevented a complete meltdown, but somehow forgot how to rebound or box out and gave up more than 10 offensive rebounds IN FIRST HALF, giving up 21 points on second chances.

Elie Okobo, who took over in the starting lineup for Ricky Rubio, scored 0 points and dished only 3 assists in 21 minutes. His backup was Jevon Carter, who made some surprising shots in the first half after the offense broke down, but finished with only those 6 points in 6 minutes of play.

For Atlanta, everyone had a good game. Trae Young was great, especially making a couple of threes to seal the game in the 4th quarter. Kevin Huerter had a great game too, with 23 points, 15 rebounds and 8 assists. That’s nearly a triple double! Season highs in both rebounds (by almost double) and assists. De’Andre Hunter and John Collins combined for 37 points.

And then there’s Trae Young, who had 36 points — including 21 in the fourth quarter — and 10 assists for the winners.

For the Suns, Devin Booker was great as usual, with 39 points, 7 rebounds and 3 assists. Deandre Ayton had 20 points and 10 rebounds.

Atlanta — the league’s WORST three point shooting team — made 14 of 31 threes on the night. They also had 60 points in the paint.

Atlanta — the league’s WORST offense overall — finished just short of a season-high.

Atlanta — one of the league’s worst defenses — held the Suns to which is close to a season-low for an opponent.

Let’s recap: the Hawks are 30th on offense (out of 30 teams) and 26th on defense. The Suns made them look much better than that.

Phoenix, meanwhile, made only 4 of 20 threes. Four threes: season low. 20 three-point attempts: season low. 20 assists: one short of a season low.

The starting lineup was BAAAD outside of Devin Booker. Aron Baynes had only 4 points and 5 rebounds in 15 minutes. Dario Saric had 4 points and 2 rebounds in 19 minutes. Elie Okobo had 0 points and 3 assists in 21 minutes. Kelly Oubre Jr. had only 11 points on 3-14 shooting (0-5 on threes). Bad. Off the bench, Tyler Johnson was 1-for-7 from the field.

Booker was very good. In 34 minutes of play, Booker was only -1 on the scoreboard. In the 14 minutes he sat, the Suns were -12. Let me repeat: -1 in 39 minutes is better than -12 in 14 minutes.

Ayton was okay, but he’s only as good as people getting him the ball (20 points on 10-14 shooting). Mikal Bridges had 15 points, 4 assists, 4 steals and 3 rebounds. That’s good. Cameron Johnson had 9 points, 6 rebounds and 3 assists.

That’s all I’ve got.

Bad night.