When you are playing the second night of a back-to-back, the excuses are easy to reach for if the result goes sideways. Tired legs is the familiar one, and it usually holds up. Add in the reality that the Suns played a double overtime game the night before, then layer on the injuries they brought into this one, and the explanation writes itself. The numbers back it up. Phoenix shot 25.7% from deep, lost the rebounding battle 34-28, and got outscored in the paint 52-34. By the end, the outcome felt
less mysterious and more inevitable.
It was an unbelievably ugly game, maybe the ugliest of the season. Heck, they only scored 77 points, and they never went above 20 points in a quarter! What makes it disappointing, despite the injury bug? Portland is not a great team, which made the opportunity very real and very present. That is the part that lingers.
What else lingers is that, when the door opened, nobody walked through it. This is a year built around evaluation, about learning who can play, who can grow, and who fits the culture the team is trying to establish. That becomes harder without your best players, but it does not excuse the absence of someone seizing the moment. Ryan Dunn struggled mightily. Isaiah Livers failed to move the needle. Jalen Green’s inefficiency is loud.
When opportunity shows up, it has to be taken. We’ll continue to wait for someone to carpe diem.
Bright Side Baller Season Standings
Jalen Green hit the shot. But Grayson earned the Baller.
Bright Side Baller Nominees
Game 58 against the Trail Blazers. Here are your nominees:
Collin Gillespie
18 points (7-of-13, 4-of-8 3PT), 3 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 steal, 6 turnovers, -11 +/-
Jalen Green
13 points (6-of-16, 1-of-7 3PT), 3 rebounds, 1 assist, 3 steals, 1 turnover, -6 +/-
Amir Coffey
8 points (3-of-7, 0-of-2 3PT), 4 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 steals, 0 turnovers, -13 +/-
Jamaree Bouyea
8 points (3-of-8, 0-of-1 3PT), 2 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals, 1 turnover, -5 +/-
Khaman Maluach
7 points (3-of-5, 1-of-1 3PT), 7 rebounds, 1 turnover, +6 +/-
Rasheer Fleming
6 points (2-of-4, 2-of-4 3PT), 1 rebound, 2 steals, 2 turnovers, +2 +/-
Votin’ time…
