The Phoenix Suns played on Saturday like they learned their lesson against definitively inferior competition, only to come out in Monday’s 131-105 win over the Memphis Grizzlies like that lesson went in one ear and out the other.
Do not let the final score deceive you. This was a woeful Suns effort.
Memphis is one of a handful of makeshift rosters inside the tanking race at the bottom-third of the standings that includes plenty of season-ending injury designations for each team.
The Suns knew this on Saturday against Utah and sure played like they knew that again on Monday.
It’s easy to label bad defense as “lazy” but this was legitimately a complete lack of effort. Grizzlies ball-handlers had zero problem getting to the rim, and if anyone off the ball was bold enough to make a cut, they would be rewarded.
We talk about “multiple efforts” on defense but the Suns could barely tabulate one per possession. If you ever need an example of what going through the motions defensively looks like, pull up this game.
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Some of this was inside Saturday’s victory but Phoenix was scoring at will to offset it, before the Jazz stopped making shots enough for the Suns to lead by 18 through one quarter and 28 at halftime.
But the Grizzlies just kept going to the basket and making enough shots to keep it tight.
Memphis shot 57% in the first half for 61 points to only trail by four. The Suns’ biggest lead to that point, 10, came early in the first quarter before the game quickly had a margin of just a few possessions the rest of the way.
It doesn’t feel right to describe this game as two teams trading baskets. It’s almost like they were giving each other freebies. The amount of easy-enough layups and dunks in this game was mind-boggling. Phoenix’s decisive edge to produce ’em was continuity, while Memphis was bigger and more determined to create nearly just as many.
Urgency started to materialize from the Suns defensively once the late third quarter arrived, and Memphis got its lead up to four.
They led by two entering the final quarter, and a few possessions later, Collin Gillespie hit his first 3 since missing 20 in a row to put Phoenix ahead by seven with 9:46 remaining.
At that timeout call, Memphis pulled four of its starters after they had been in for just the start of the quarter, an effort to put out the fire akin to soaking it in gasoline. It’s pretty stunning how blatant the tanking efforts have been by these teams this year.
The Suns opened it up to a 15-point lead just a few minutes later, when Memphis conveniently put back in Cedric Coward (who was at under 20 minutes to that point) after that surge had completed. Taylor Hendricks, GG Jackson and Cam Spencer did not get back in and all played 20 minutes or less, far below their averages this month.
This, coming as the first game of a back-to-back, made it all the much worse. Tuesday’s opponent is a volatile Orlando Magic team that has been extremely inconsistent this year, but they are also a group with serious size and used it in Phoenix a month ago to force two overtimes. Because of the timing of Phoenix pouring it on, it was able to keep a few starters in lower minute totals.
Booker played 26 minutes and shot 16-of-24 for 36 points with five assists and three turnovers. You can take that as him not wanting to lose and showing some competitive fire, but he was right there, along with everyone else snoozing on defense. A few times, he dedicated his transition defense to former teammate Kevin Durant by standing still after turning the ball over.
Jalen Green had 21 points in 24 minutes, while Royce O’Neale also got 24 minutes.
Injuries have derailed another Grizzlies season, and that was even before the tanking deployments were ordered. They had 12 guys out on Monday. Double digits is seriously impressive.
Ja Morant (left elbow sprain) has only played 20 games this year, while Zach Edey (left ankle and elbow surgery recovery) has got to just 11. Marquee free-agent signing Ty Jerome was lighting it up recently after debuting in late January but he’s been in-and-out since, and then sprained his left ankle.
Key reserves Brandon Clarke (two appearances, right calf strain) and Scottie Pippen Jr. (10, right toe surgery) have barely been around too after different injuries before those ended their respective seasons.
Santi Aldama (right knee surgery), Kentavious Caldwell-Pope (right finger surgery) and Jaylen Wells (right toe injury management) were also out after actually being able to play for most of this season.
All nine active Memphis players got run. Only four were on the roster to begin the year, three just started playing for the Grizzlies this month and the other two were a part of the Jaren Jackson Jr. trade.
Suns head coach Jordan Ott said Dillon Brooks (left hand fracture) and Mark Williams (right foot stress reaction) were both able to play in 5-on-5 over the weekend and again on Monday.
That is often seen as the last box for injured players to check before returning, but a key tidbit to remember is this was Brooks’ 18th straight game out and Williams’ 14th. Both guys will need to build up their cardio. Brooks was in a better spot to maintain his with a non-leg injury, but it’ll still take some time. Williams’ playing shape would normally take longer to build up, regardless, given his slow ramp-ups in the past. Phoenix has seven games left across 14 final days.
Grayson Allen was added to the injury report in the morning for left knee injury management before getting ruled out. He’s had soreness flare up the day of a few different games and some of those instances have forced him to sit.
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