Game 45: Phoenix Suns (26-18) @ Indiana Pacers (25-20) l Friday l 7:00pm l BSIN

[SunsRback4Good]

For me that ends the trade obi idea

I was thinking the same thing.

Might just go to prove that his best 'position' is small-ball, 5 out center?... When the Suns went to KD as their '5', OB1; Stix; and Pascal were able to play him tough. Nobody or group is going to stop him, but they were at least able to stay with him & slow him down. Really impressed with the team play (from both teams). Could have gone either way. Who woulda thought the Pacers would win a game because they won a rebound! on a 2nd attempt no less... LOL - a looooonnnng way from a couple of years back.

I Wish Booker didn’t score 60+ therefore KD would get a chance at more shots considering he shot 9/15 for 60% fg. Other players could not get involved in our offense due to Book’s scorching hot shooting it really showed in the 4th Q when Pacers held the Suns to just 17 points.

I know Bruce Brown is a great defender but Siakim is on a whole other level & both currently have a title. Your teams defense ranks 23rd where do you see the Pacers Defense being ranked with addition of Siakim once the season comes to an end? Top 20 maybe?

[Wizop]

I assumed Haliburton was the entire offense but was incorrect as the Pacers can win games and score a ton without him.

our second unit leads the league in points off the bench. we have nights where 7 and even 8 guys reach double figures. we play at a fast pace where our depth should wear teams out.

that said, I'm not sure what happened to your guys in the 4th quarter. Toppin said post game that we resolved to turn up our defense and I think I saw that Vogel said you normally punish teams that double the ball as we did. sometimes NBA games are hard to explain.

[SunsRback4Good]

I assumed Haliburton was the entire offense but was incorrect as the Pacers can win games and score a ton without him.

our second unit leads the league in points off the bench. we have nights where 7 and even 8 guys reach double figures. we play at a fast pace where our depth should wear teams out.

that said, I'm not sure what happened to your guys in the 4th quarter. Toppin said post game that we resolved to turn up our defense and I think I saw that Vogel said you normally punish teams that double the ball as we did. sometimes NBA games are hard to explain.

Yeah, your defense intensity picked up in the 4th Q as Phoenix could not overcome barrage of missed shots. Plus Turnovers has been plaguing us all season long and we managed to turn the ball over 20 times. That’s a recipe for disaster especially on the road against a team like the Pacers who punish you on fast breaks.

[Tom White]

can’t wait for an unlimited amount of points scored tonight.

You sure called that right.

[SunsRback4Good]

can’t wait for an unlimited amount of points scored tonight.

You sure called that right.

Yeah, I assumed there would be more scoring on the road. Our first meeting both teams combined for a total of 227 points and figured no way that happens again. We’ve been not allowing many points on road recently, but Pacers are a whole different animal when it comes to scoring.

Your team had a specific game plan; allow Booker to score 60+ while other Suns players don’t get involved in offense hurting our chances in the 4th Q as nobody knew how to score.

[JMaster5K]

I was thinking the same thing.

Might just go to prove that his best 'position' is small-ball, 5 out center?... When the Suns went to KD as their '5', OB1; Stix; and Pascal were able to play him tough. Nobody or group is going to stop him, but they were at least able to stay with him & slow him down. Really impressed with the team play (from both teams). Could have gone either way. Who woulda thought the Pacers would win a game because they won a rebound! on a 2nd attempt no less... LOL - a looooonnnng way from a couple of years back.

I Wish Booker didn’t score 60+ therefore KD would get a chance at more shots considering he shot 9/15 for 60% fg. Other players could not get involved in our offense due to Book’s scorching hot shooting it really showed in the 4th Q when Pacers held the Suns to just 17 points.

I know Bruce Brown is a great defender but Siakim is on a whole other level & both currently have a title. Your teams defense ranks 23rd where do you see the Pacers Defense being ranked with addition of Siakim once the season comes to an end? Top 20 maybe?

I think Booker was cookin because he could create the separation against our defense to get to the rim or open the 3. (His finishing game inside 10' was just ridiculous.) I thought he actually tried to look for some others end of the third & into the 4th, to try to set up the end. But, the defense was spacing properly into the lanes. Instead of trying to force the action to somebody else, he took the easiest route to the best shot from our defense,.. which in this case was him attacking. This was just one of those games where the ball bounced our way.

The Suns are a great team. No mistake, the Pacers worked hard in this game, but they had to,... to have any chance to stay in the game until the end, and not let it turn into a blowout.

About the defense, idk?... they've been working on it recently. They are still listed at 26th,... but in you look at just January, they are 18th. However,... their net rating hasn't changed that much, so as the defense has improved, the offense has dropped off a bit. I think, for the Pacers, next season is going to really be fun. There is a lot of untapped defensive upside, but can they play offense at this level and capitalize on it?... I have faith in Coach Carlisle and the rest of our staff to figure that out. =}