Game 47: Phoenix Suns (26-20) @ Miami Heat (24-22) l Monday l 5:30pm l NBATV l AZFamily

[Sunlight]

I'm so tired of watching this team try and milk the clock the entire 4th quarter every game. It's not hard. Run, run, run. Attack basket and kick out if there's nothing there. Maybe someone can actually try cutting at some point.

A guy like Cam Payne would be able to help with that.

[lilfishi22]

I'm so tired of watching this team try and milk the clock the entire 4th quarter every game. It's not hard. Run, run, run. Attack basket and kick out if there's nothing there. Maybe someone can actually try cutting at some point.

Insane to milk the clock with that amount of time left. All the fire, movement, rhythm and go-go-go from the first 3 quarters just disappears the moment the 4th quarter begins and we start playing like a YMCA team trying to hold a 2pt lead against an NBA team.Absolutely bizarre. I've never seen a VETERAN team do this so consistently

Exactly. As soon as the 4th quarter, we start playing like it’s the last 2 mins of the game with the big 3 trying to take advantage of their 1 on 1 matchup.

The more I think about it, the more I think it's because we're just not confident in our defense.

Specifically, we're scared teams would start going on a run after a few missed shots so instead of giving them a chance to return fire off our miss, our philosophy seems to be just reducing the number of possessions played in the 4th.

The ironic thing is that our best defense is actually our offense. When we're playing a high octane offense at a good pace:

- teams have to inbound the ball from the baseline so no FB opportunities.
- we continue to put points up allowing any lead we have grow
- and we just have so much more energy and flow on defense when our offense is also humming

[Saberestar]

This one was a nice team W against a healthy Miami Heat.

Book 22, 7 assists
KD 20, 7 assists
Beal 19, 7 assists

That's the way. All three together just 2 TOs.

Eric Gordon with 23 points, he did a very good job covering Allen out with an ankle sprain. Okogie played well too.

We couldn't win big but the Heat at home never give up, not a big deal.

[sunskerr]

A win is a win but the heat are really struggling as of the past bunch of games. Wouldnt be too encouraged yet.

[sunsbg]

The team can draw conclusions based on last two days. Completely different box scores and final results in last two games.

[Saberestar]

A win is a win but the heat are really struggling as of the past bunch of games. Wouldnt be too encouraged yet.

Last 10: 8W-2L

[grumpysaddle]

SUNS WIN.

[Bogyo]

The team can draw conclusions based on last two days. Completely different box scores and final results in last two games.

Exactley what I came to say. Pretty much night and day team performances in the two Florida games.

This was a quality win in my book, no matter what. We beat a really good,fully healthy Miami team on the road, playing the right way - unlike against a bit injured and not so good Magic. I wouldn't be surprised to see the Heat in the ECF for sure.
Our shot selection was better, our execution was better, our rebounding was better, our passing was better. Most all of this is effort and a bit of thinking is involved as well. You are not winning many games in 2024 if you shoot 13 three pointers. Do I like this? No. Am I absolutely fkng fuming every fkng game when our stars dont get it through their thick skull bc they knowitall and their iso/kingofcourt/middy bs is ruining a game? Absofknglutely! Seems like Gordon is the only one who does it - and funny enough he does it for the wrong reason of chucking. Holy baby jesus in the cradle... how fkng hard is it? Rant over.


Quality win, hard fought as well, even with the bit of a 4th Q slowdown. We led by "too much" most everybody would let up a bit in this scenario, and ofcourse our Q4 stuff is well documented to back that up, so no surprises there, but we did not let them too close to comfort in my opinion, so all good.

[sunsbum]

A win is a win but the heat are really struggling as of the past bunch of games. Wouldnt be too encouraged yet.

if we lose it’s dooms day, if we win it’s “insert excuse”.

[Puff]

Probably the best we have looked all season but "3 quarter Vogel" needs to clean up the 4th quarter and we really do need another legit guy off the bench. We may want the Big Three to play 40 minutes in the playoffs not the regular season.

That said it was an enjoyable game to watch even though it was tough watching the Heat get within 11 points in the 4th quarter.

I really miss watching Bol Bol. He either really screwed up his ankle or we want to keep him healthy for trade purposes. I hope we can keep him. He was a breath of fresh air in the limited minutes he was playing prior to his injury and another big to help on the boards. He could end up being a bust or a very helpful contributor come the playoffs.

Nice win

[Stark]

4th quarter of the Heat game was not similar to the one they had at Orlando. Magic game, we were shutdown and had many silly turnovers as we saw a lot of time this season. However yesterday I believe the game execution was alright and felt like guys were just tired a bit. There were many open shots, Gordon misseed two wide open threes, Book had one open shot, one blocked by Adebayo i think. Beal missed some easy shots. I felt like they could have driven to the rim more, we had a habit of shooting ourself out of the games in crunch time but usually if Book,Beal,KD,Allen,Gordon is open they should take that shot and I'm okay with that.

Heat was horrible most of the game though. It was refreshing to play against a team that had less motivation to grab a rebound than us. They also shot horribly. It was still good to see the Suns moving the ball and finding the open man. Nurk always does a good job as a passer.

One thing I'm worried about is how KD is looking last couple of games. We need him as healthy as possible in the post season. He had similar seasons with Nets where he was exhausting himself by carrying the team in regular season and looking gassed playoff time. I'd be okay with him taking some time off. I'm glad that Book is on fire lately and Beal is back so we don't need KD to be doing everything.

Lasty I like Beal being the primary ball handler at the end of the games. He is terrific at driving to the rim, he looks more composed than Book and KD. He's the third option most of the games so he generally has more energy at the end of games too.

[lonea]

I'm so tired of watching this team try and milk the clock the entire 4th quarter every game. It's not hard. Run, run, run. Attack basket and kick out if there's nothing there. Maybe someone can actually try cutting at some point.

A guy like Cam Payne would be able to help with that.

No thanks... Payne sucks

[SunsRback4Good]

I'm so tired of watching this team try and milk the clock the entire 4th quarter every game. It's not hard. Run, run, run. Attack basket and kick out if there's nothing there. Maybe someone can actually try cutting at some point.

A guy like Cam Payne would be able to help with that.

No thanks... Payne sucks

I wouldn’t trade Damion Lee for Payne straight up. I mean one has an nba title while other is a journey man

[NE1Care]

I know Allen left with a sore ankle this game, but how on earth do we not run more plays the best 3 point shooter in the league?

It drives me nuts, especially in the 4th quarter when Allen does not even get a touch the entire quarter.

Someone tell the coaching staff that they have the best 3 point shooter in the league on their team.

Glad they played 3 fun quarters and got the win. Go Suns

[bwgood77]

Nice to see 7 assists each from our big 3.

[MrMiyagi]

Big 3: 10-6
Book/KD: 9-6
Book/Beal: 3-1
Beal/KD: 1-2
KD: 2-4
Book: 2-1
Beal: 0-0

Total: 27-20