Quick Recap: Suns get obliterated from deep, lose 121-114

On the Gorilla’s birthday, the Phoenix Suns came out celebrating both their own shots and the shots of others.

Unfortunately, the Suns thought the party stopped about halfway through the first quarter after they got up 26-15 on some real strong play. But then Memphis started making everything while the Suns... stopped. It was a 5-point Memphis lead at halftime and then a 19-point Memphis lead after three quarters.

By the end of three, the Suns were 3-for-17 on threes while the Grizzlies were 15-for-35. The Suns had taken 57 two pointers to the Grizzlies’ 33. And taken 14 free throws to the Grizzlies 10. But the Suns were down 19 points because threes count more than twos and ones!

Just a few weeks ago, the Suns were 10th in the league in taking threes and 2nd in the league in taking wide-open threes (defender 6+ feet away). But something happened, and the Suns started falling in love with taking mid-range shots.

That’s all the analysis I have.

The Suns pushed back into the game with a late flurry (pulled to 115-112) that got the crowd to their feet, but De’Anthony Melton drove and drew a shooting foul to get Memphis back up five and in control. Memphis made their free throws down the stretch to close it out (Melton, Morant and Hill went 6-6 in the final minute). Sure wish the Suns weren’t down so much to start the quarter.

Suns lose 121-114.

Good night.

First half

The Suns opened the game winning the tip, and watching Devin Booker make a pair of shots against the dude who almost doubled him up last game. Dillon Brooks poured in 27 last time to Booker’s 15 (Booker was suffering from the strained forearm). This time Booker seemed interested in reversing that tally.

Neither team played much defense to start the game, giving up crowd-ooohing shots on both ends (both going 5-7 from the field in the first 4 minutes). Jonas Valenciunas (7 points) and Devin Booker (8) got most of the action for their teams.

The Suns went up 20-13 when the game settled a bit and subs began filtering into each lineup. Deandre Ayton has had a nice start with 6/2/2 and being very active.

Suns got up 25-16 before Memphis made a late-quarter run after the Suns brought in a mostly bench unit that did not play well together.

Suns up 31-27 on Memphis after one. Both teams made 55% of their shots. Memphis stayed close with 4 threes (4/10), while the Suns kept the lead on free throws (6/8).

Memphis went off in the second quarter, making a bunch more threes and taking the lead for most of the quarter. By mid-quarter, they were up to 64% shooting overall (including 10/18 on threes) and had a 4-point lead.

The Memphis lead ballooned to 9 points soon after, with the Suns fumbling on some missed shots and bad shooting decisions while the Grizzlies got a nice bounce or two. Booker’s 4-point run at the end of the quarter pulled the Suns back to 62-57.

Second half

Suns really need to get better at the defending thingy. If they don’t they’ll lose the game. #analysis

The Grizzlies open the half with Dillon Brooks faceguarding Devin Booker to deny him the ball, and the Suns have not adjusted to laying and sticking hard picks on him yet. When Jae Crowder makes his first three, Memphis up 71-60 before anyone realizes what happened. Jonas up to 26 points now (10-12 shooting).

Gonna have to be another big re-focusing by the Suns here.

That didn’t happen.