Game 17: Phoenix Suns (10-6) @ New York Knicks (9-6) l Sunday l 4:00pm l AZFamily

[lilfishi22]

Gordon had a good game but his decision making and basketball IQ is very questionable for a vet.

Does Brunson want to actually shoot that shot or draw the foul and get to the line for 3?

That's why he didn't jump.

I wasn't insinuating to be in his face on the attempt; rather, just someone run at him and jump to obscure his sight on the basket. That's it. Just make it a little harder than it was.

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EG was right there and purposely kept his hands by his side because we all know smart scorers will try and draw the contact. EG made the vet move to be close enough for Brunson to know he's there but not give him or the refs the opportunity to call anything.

Best case: Brunson misses the shot
Next best case: Brunson hits a tough turnaround 3 and we're going OT.
Worst case: Brunson "draws" some BS foul and gets to the line for 3 easy shots.

[SkyBill40]

Does Brunson want to actually shoot that shot or draw the foul and get to the line for 3?

That's why he didn't jump.

I wasn't insinuating to be in his face on the attempt; rather, just someone run at him and jump to obscure his sight on the basket. That's it. Just make it a little harder than it was.

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EG was right there and purposely kept his hands by his side because we all know smart scorers will try and draw the contact. EG made the vet move to be close enough for Brunson to know he's there but not give him or the refs the opportunity to call anything.

Best case: Brunson misses the shot
Next best case: Brunson hits a tough turnaround 3 and we're going OT.
Worst case: Brunson "draws" some BS foul and gets to the line for 3 easy shots.

[sashaturiaf]

Credit to coach Vogel, his rotations and game management have been getting better by the game and its really shown itself with KD out.

Its not easy to manage a rotation when you go 11 deep like we do but I feel the minutes being given out has been earned by their play. Okogie has a longer leash than I like but then I can also understand that since he is the incumbent on this roster full of new parts.

[Maze]

Might not show in the stats, but I thought that was Nurk's best game as a Sun.He actually looked faster & more fluid.Even his defense was very good.

[Jdiddy701]

Might not show in the stats, but I thought that was Nurk's best game as a Sun.He actually looked faster & more fluid.Even his defense was very good.

Nurk has been awesome for us. I don’t mean a jab at DA but he’s doing the little things that Ayton was not doing for us. I didn’t expect Nurk to hustle as hard as he does. He had four block shots tonight. He also tries to get offensive rebounds. His screens are solid as a rock. There are times where he brings the ball up for us, which is a huge plus for us. I’m happy he’s on our team.


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[SunsRback4Good]

Might not show in the stats, but I thought that was Nurk's best game as a Sun.He actually looked faster & more fluid.Even his defense was very good.

Nurk has been awesome for us. I don’t mean a jab at DA but he’s doing the little things that Ayton was not doing for us. I didn’t expect Nurk to hustle as hard as he does. He had four block shots tonight. He also tries to get offensive rebounds. His screens are solid as a rock. There are times where he brings the ball up for us, which is a huge plus for us. I’m happy he’s on our team.


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Agreed! Nurk is a Jack of all trades can do different things on the court that other centers aren’t capable of. Feels like every game you can expect 3-4 blocks out of him, tough screens, a few 3’s attempted and he’s more than capable of knocking them down, can get to the line and has great court awareness like Jokic. He’s still fairly young and should improve in next couple of seasons. Overall, Nurk was an excellent addition to our team.

[Iceman36]

Just finished seconds half. Team getting better and better right now.

After that last shot from Book I sat there with open mouth freezed for about 20 seconds.

[SunsRback4Good]

Just finished seconds half. Team getting better and better right now.

After that last shot from Book I sat there with open mouth freezed for about 20 seconds.

[lilfishi22]

Might not show in the stats, but I thought that was Nurk's best game as a Sun.He actually looked faster & more fluid.Even his defense was very good.

Nurk has been awesome for us. I don’t mean a jab at DA but he’s doing the little things that Ayton was not doing for us. I didn’t expect Nurk to hustle as hard as he does. He had four block shots tonight. He also tries to get offensive rebounds. His screens are solid as a rock. There are times where he brings the ball up for us, which is a huge plus for us. I’m happy he’s on our team.


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Nurk just has the right combination of skills you want in a basketball player, on top of having a good attitude. Great basketball IQ, good passing ability, understands rotations, understands how to play team basketball, understands pace and when to settle the team down, plays relatively fundamentally sound (except for his finishing at the rim) and makes the right plays. For a starting role player, that's really all you want.

[sunsbg]

Who needs KD and Bradley Beal when we have Jordan ? Good win.

[SunsRback4Good]

Who needs KD and Bradley Beal when we have Jordan ? Good win.

You’ve been dying to write that for quite some time, huh?

[sunsbg]

Who needs KD and Bradley Beal when we have Jordan ? Good win.

You’ve been dying to write that for quite some time, huh?

First thing that came up after I woke up and saw the final score. The team was fun to watch in first half but had to go to bed at 2am. Now about to watch the rest of the game.

Expected a loss, but Suns depth didn't look bad in this game and the bench decided to keep the streak going.

[lilfishi22]

Who needs KD and Bradley Beal when we have Jordan ? Good win.

Unfortunately, your eyes have deceived you. It's not Jordan, it's Mitch Richmond

[lilfishi22]

Read on Twitter

[Golanator]

Didn’t think we had much of a shot once it was announced both Allen and KD were out. Just not enough spacing, right?

Book says screw all that, Gordon/Goodwin/Little/Yuta/Metu all hit some 3’s, everyone else played their roles well and we win because we have the best player on the court.

This team is so fun to watch.

[sashaturiaf]

Might not show in the stats, but I thought that was Nurk's best game as a Sun.He actually looked faster & more fluid.Even his defense was very good.

Nurk has been awesome for us. I don’t mean a jab at DA but he’s doing the little things that Ayton was not doing for us. I didn’t expect Nurk to hustle as hard as he does. He had four block shots tonight. He also tries to get offensive rebounds. His screens are solid as a rock. There are times where he brings the ball up for us, which is a huge plus for us. I’m happy he’s on our team.


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With how hand-off heavy the NBA is now and perimeter focused our offense is, Nurk was absolutely the right choice over DA, even taking the other guys we got from the trade out of it. Nurks a great screener, great passer and generally makes good decisions. I don't think it's a coincidence both Book and KD are shooting such great percentages from the field this season even with so many new guys on the team, Nurk makes life easier for them. I can just envision DA in this offense clogging the lane for our guards looking to get his midrange off(his only move)

I do have concerns about Nurks footspeed on D in the games that matter. But Jokic and the Nuggets showed you can protect a slow footed big if the rest of the defense is in sync. And like Joker, Nurk is positionally very solid on D and also boxes out like a champ.

[sashaturiaf]

Didn’t think we had much of a shot once it was announced both Allen and KD were out. Just not enough spacing, right?

Book says screw all that, Gordon/Goodwin/Little/Yuta/Metu all hit some 3’s, everyone else played their roles well and we win because we have the best player on the court.

This team is so fun to watch.

I am enjoying this team right now, despite how frustrating it is at least 1 of the big 3 is always out.

We saw in the preseason this team is full of dogs, they're showing its no preseason fluke right now. High IQ + high effort means this is a team I want to watch.

[grumpysaddle]

Where's all the wet blanket posters now, though?

[sunsbg]

Who needs KD and Bradley Beal when we have Jordan ? Good win.

Unfortunately, your eyes have deceived you. It's not Jordan, it's Mitch Richmond

Second very important three in consecutive games for this Mitch Richmond guy indeed.

[lilfishi22]

Might not show in the stats, but I thought that was Nurk's best game as a Sun.He actually looked faster & more fluid.Even his defense was very good.

Nurk has been awesome for us. I don’t mean a jab at DA but he’s doing the little things that Ayton was not doing for us. I didn’t expect Nurk to hustle as hard as he does. He had four block shots tonight. He also tries to get offensive rebounds. His screens are solid as a rock. There are times where he brings the ball up for us, which is a huge plus for us. I’m happy he’s on our team.


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With how hand-off heavy the NBA is now and perimeter focused our offense is, Nurk was absolutely the right choice over DA, even taking the other guys we got from the trade out of it. Nurks a great screener, great passer and generally makes good decisions. I don't think it's a confidence both Book and KD are shooting such great percentages from the field this season even with so many new guys on the team, Nurk makes life easier for them. I can just envision DA in this offense clogging the lane for our guards looking to get his midrange off(his only move)

I do have concerns about Nurks footspeed on D in the games that matter. But Jokic and the Nuggets showed you can protect a slow footed big if the rest of the defense is in sync. And like Joker, Nurk is positionally very solid on D and also boxes out like a champ.

DA got plenty of praise for being #1 or #2 in rebounding in the league for a while but now has regressed back to mean. His rebounding is not even significantly better than Nurk's now. Nurk is also ahead of DA in terms of DFG% differential within 10ft from the rim so Nurk is doing a better job at defending close to the basket. He obviously loses out to DA as we step out further but that's a fair compromise. Maybe a little surprising, but Eubanks is better than both DA and Nurk defensively in both categories and further out. So aside from finishing at a higher clip and having a good middy, DA just doesn't bring a ton more to table than Nurk.

To your last point, I've really liked what I've seen in terms of defensive rotations and effort from the other role players. That would go far to protecting Nurk as he's a little further from the rim.