The Phoenix Suns lost their second Summer League game to the New Orleans Pelicans 81-75 despite an impressive performance from their second-year big man Khaman Maluach.
Darius Brown II led Phoenix with 18 points while Malik Dia scored 18 points and Jaron Pierre Jr. scored 16 points to lead New Orleans to the win. But the story of this game was Khaman Maluach.
Maluach scored 15 points, grabbed 15 rebounds, blocked two shots, and recorded one steal on 5-for-9 shooting and 2-of-4 from the three-point
line. Maluach was the most talented player on the floor from start to finish and did not get enough help from his running mates to pull out a win.
After committing seven turnovers in his previous outing against Portland on Friday night, Maluach was much more poised with the ball and did not produce a single turnover. Through two Summer League games, Maluach has been dominant, showcasing a stronger body, better hands, and improved rebounding. What has been most surprising is that he has also been the Suns’ best three-point shooter on the Summer League roster through two games, shooting 5-for-11 from long distance.
The other young players from the Suns trio have not been nearly as impressive. Koa Peat and Rasheer Fleming only grabbed four rebounds each in the losing effort, while each showed flashes but were not consistently impacting the game like Maluach.
Peat’s performance on Sunday did not match his debut performance against the Blazers. He scored 12 points on 4-of-10 from the field and was 1-for-3 from the free throw line. He committed seven fouls and turned the ball over four times, but was one of the Suns’ main initiators on offense and continued to show an impressive fluidity as a ball handler for a young player his size. What was most disappointing about watching Peat against the Pelicans was that he did not play with the same motor as he did in his debut. There were many times he lacked urgency getting back on defense, leading to Pelicans mismatches and easy baskets.
As for Fleming, he was impactful defensively, recording two blocks and a steal and being a disruptive force creating deflections as usual. However, he continued to be a net negative on the offensive end outside of his offensive rebounding and has yet to provide much optimism about him becoming a good NBA three-point shooter.
To be fair to this Summer League roster, it does not have an efficient score-first player and offensive creator, which is why it has been difficult to watch this team on offense at times. And also why Peat and Fleming have looked underqualified for what this team needs from them. The lack of spacing from Peat and Fleming really bottles up the lane, and it makes it hard for the Suns’ guards driving to the basket when Peat and Fleming both crash in from the corners because they do not want to shoot an open corner three. But this may be the same story in January for the NBA squad, where not a single forward on the roster has proven to be a respectable three-point shooter.
Game Flow
First Half
The Pelicans started fast; Pierre Jr. hit his first two three-point hoists of the game to give the Pelicans an early 6-2 lead. The Suns struggled to find any sort of spacing or rhythm on offense for the second game in a row. Fleming tried to get going early, but after two missed pull-up jump shots in a row and a wide-open missed three from Fleming, he stopped being aggressive in the half-court offense for the rest of the game. The Suns did tie it up at 6-6 after Maluach grabbed the missed Fleming three and powered up for a two-handed slam.
The Pelicans closed the quarter strong after Maluach subbed out, and the Pelicans led 16-12 after the first quarter.
The beginning of the second quarter was a continuation of the first quarter in that both offenses did not perform well, but they did get going eventually. Maluach started the scoring with a two-hand dunk off of a pick-and-roll dime from Javonte Cook. Then Peat started driving downhill, hitting two difficult layups to tie the game up at 18-18. The Pelicans immediately hit back-to-back three-point jumpers, and two layups pushed New Orleans out to a 28-20 lead. The Suns countered with another Maluach dunk, a Fleming corner three, and a Brown corner three to get back within three, down 32-29.
The two biggest highlight-worthy plays from this game came on a back-to-back sequence of defensive plays where Maluach broke up an alley-oop dunk attempt, and Fleming deflected a pass on a lob pass the next play. It’s in these small moments of brilliance that show just how athletic and gifted the Suns starting front court could be one day if they continue to develop.
But that moment was brief, because the Pelicans went on a three-point shooting tear to finish out the quarter, knocking down three three-pointers to go up 41-31 at halftime. The Suns were 2-for-15 from three while the Pelicans finished the first half 9-of-20 to give them the lead.
Second Half
The start of the second half was the most impressive stretch from the Suns’ young core during the entire game. Maluach, Fleming, and Peat all found a synergy playing together as they turned up the defense pressure, opening the half on a 15-6 run.
The half started with multiple Maluach blocks and deflections to create transition opportunities for Peat in transition where he created contact and was fouled multiple times. Then Fleming took over; he grabbed an offensive rebound and finished, then on defense picked the pocket of Pierre and was fouled on a breakaway dunk on the other end, leading to a kerfuffle from Maluach and some Pelicans players that resulted in double technical fouls. Fleming knocked down the free throw, and then Brown hit back-to-back baskets, and then Peat finished off the run with a beautiful old-school-style midrange jumper to cut the deficit to one, down 47-46 halfway through the third quarter.
Unfortunately for the Suns, once Maluach checked out, neither Fleming nor Peat could stop the Pelicans, especially Malik Dia, who attacked the Suns in the paint and knocked down a flat-footed three to give the Pelicans a 62-50 lead. The Suns bench scored a quick four points to close the quarter down 62-54.
The beginning of the fourth quarter was back and forth, with the Pelicans holding onto a high single-digit lead for most of the quarter. The Suns guards Brown and Jameer Nelson Jr. both started to get downhill and attack the basket early in the quarter to keep Phoenix within shouting distance. Dia continued to carry the Pelicans in the second half and kept the Suns from taking the lead.
Down 75-67, with 2:06 seconds left, the Suns went on one final run to try and steal the game in the end. Peat hit another midrange jump shot, followed by a Maluach pick-and-pop three in transition to cut the deficit to three. The Suns got a stop on defense, and Koby Brea decided to pull up from the parking lot to tie the game and missed his sixth three of the day to finish 0-for-6 from three and score just 2 points. The Suns got the offensive rebound, and Maluach rushed another three that airballed out of bounds.
Kobe Bufkin sealed the game for the Pelicans with a driving layup to put the Pelicans up five points, 77-72, and they made enough free throws to seal the game and win 81-75.
Up Next
The Suns’ next Summer League matchup is Monday night, 7:00 pm Arizona time against the Milwaukee Bucks, where the two Arizona Wildcats’ freshman phenoms Koa Peat and Brayden Burries will match up against each other in the NBA.
