The Phoenix Suns held off the Sacramento Kings 112-100.
In a collective effort, the Suns battled through stretches of inconsistency but ultimately pulled away from the Kings. By slowing the game down and
working through their half-court sets late, Phoenix was able to move the ball, find open looks, and knock down enough shots to close it out.
It wasn’t Devin Booker’s best shooting night, but the Suns were fortunate to run into a Kings team that went cold for long stretches. With Phoenix applying pressure on the ball and forcing turnovers, Sacramento struggled to capitalize on their windows of opportunity.
The Suns made just enough plays to survive the late push and steal Wednesday night’s game from the Kings.
Game Flow
First Half
One minute into the game, the Suns already made their stamp by forcing two turnovers, and Dillon Brooks helped put them up 7-0 as Kings fans booed every time he touched the ball.
When Brooks wasn’t handling the ball, Collin Gillespie, in his first start of the season, was running point and pushing the score against the Kings with his ability to find Mark Williams for easy buckets in the paint.
Up 25-8 halfway through the first quarter, Gillespie could not miss, scoring eight of the first 25 for the Suns and relieving Booker of ball-handling duties. With Williams dominating the paint, he only had six points but missed a few easy shots. The Suns were focused on full-court pressure and dominating the glass, leading to easy transition baskets.
Forcing seven turnovers and 12 points off, the Suns headed into the second quarter with a 41-16 lead. Other than Booker shooting 3-8 from the field with a few ugly misses, the Suns had a flawless first quarter, ready to end this one early.
A sloppy start to the second quarter by the Suns led to a 7-0 run by the Kings, forcing Jordan Ott to call a timeout and regroup.
The Suns quickly responded once Gillespie checked back into the game. From there, the offense was smooth sailing. The Kings tried to trade buckets, but Gillespie was simply too much to handle, setting up pass after pass for easy finishes at the rim.
The Suns’ biggest lead of the first half reached 25 points as they continued to capitalize on turnovers and turn them into quick offense. Things were smooth on the scoring end, while the Kings struggled to put together anything more than a 7-0 run without the Suns responding immediately.
With 10 offensive rebounds and 30 points in the paint, controlling the interior was crucial to maintaining a large lead. The Suns dominated inside and went into halftime up 67-45.
Second Half
Both the Suns and Kings opened the second half a bit sluggish, settling for threes and easing up on defense. It almost felt like they both knew how the game would end and were ready to run out the clock. The Suns missed their first six attempts from deep, and Devin Booker continued to struggle, driving too far into the lane and getting crowded by multiple defenders.
After the Suns dominated the paint in the first half, it was the Kings who came out and scored all 10 of their early points in the second half around the rim.
Luckily for Phoenix, the Kings were also struggling from deep, but they slowly crept back into the game as Keegan Murray knocked down two threes to cut the lead to nine with four minutes left in the third. With Sacramento tightening up its man-to-man defense, it turned into missed shot after missed shot for Booker and the Suns.
Oso Ighodaro jump-started the Suns, finding open lanes to the rim, helping the Suns finish the third quarter stronger than they started, leading 83-73.
The Suns opened the quarter on a 10-2 run, pushing their lead back into a more comfortable spot. But the Kings answered immediately, trimming the margin back down to nine.
Fouls pushed the game’s end time further and further back, with whistles slowing everything down — which might have been exactly what the Suns needed. On nearly every possession, the shot clock ticked down to single digits before an attempt, yet Phoenix continued to manage their 10-point lead.
As the game closed out, the Suns managed to hit a few big shots and play defense to take a 112-100 victory over the Kings.
Up Next
The Suns head to Oklahoma City to take on the Thunder in another NBA Cup battle at 7:30 AZ Time. Their biggest test yet this season.
