Week 24 is in the books, and you walk away from it with a weird feeling. Uneasy. Like that feeling when you eat sushi on a warm Arizona day, something doesn’t sit right. The Phoenix Suns went 2–2 on a four-game road trip, and on paper, that is fine. You go .500 on the road, you take it. That is usually viewed as a win. But the way they got there leaves you thinking a little differently.
This was not some brutal stretch. A tanking Memphis team, an Orlando Magic team searching for itself, a competitive
Charlotte Hornets group, and a Chicago Bulls team that had lost 6 straight. And yet, most of these games carried that same uneasy tone. Execution, especially on the defensive end, never felt consistent or reliable. It continues to follow them, and it showed up again throughout the week.
But let’s start with the positive. Health. This is the time of year when you want to be trending in the healthy direction, and Phoenix is starting to get bodies back. Dillon Brooks returns. Mark Williams returns. And for the first time, you start to see what this group could look like when it is whole.
We got a glimpse. A small one, but a real one. For the first time, a lineup featuring Collin Gillespie, Jalen Green, Devin Booker, Brooks, and Williams shared the floor. It only lasted four minutes against Chicago, but in that stretch, they were a +7, shot 42.9% from the field, 50% from deep, and looked like something that could work. They closed the game out and were the best part of a sloggy game in the Windy City.
It is a small sample, but it is something. And that is the key. You cannot build anything without health. Now that it is starting to arrive, there is finally something to evaluate, something to grow, and something to carry forward into these final games.
So, as frustrating as it feels, there has to be some perspective layered into it. The Phoenix Suns are trying to get healthy in real time. They are mixing lineups they have barely seen all season, trying to figure out who fits with who, where guys belong, and how it is all supposed to function together. The chemistry is still forming. The geometry is still off. And nowhere is that more obvious than on the defensive end. Week 24 put a spotlight on it.
In tightening the rotation, Jordan Ott left the team exposed on the perimeter, and once that first line of defense breaks, everything else follows. Opponents are getting downhill whenever they want, and that is where the real damage happens. You can live with tough threes. You cannot live with uncontested looks at the rim. Because those are the highest percentage shots on the floor. And right now, Phoenix is giving them up too easily.
If you track opposing points in the paint over the course of the season, the trend tells the story. January, their best month at 11–5, also aligned with their best defensive resistance in that area. Teams were not living in the paint, and it showed in the results. Fast forward to April, and it feels different. Through three games in Week 24, they are allowing 56 points in the paint per game. That number sits middle of the pack relative to the league (11th most) on the surface, but the context matters. It is the frequency, the ease, the lack of resistance that stands out.
And that is not how you want to be closing a season. Especially when you know what is coming next.
And this is where the confusion starts to creep in for the fan base. Why are we not seeing Ryan Dunn or Rasheer Fleming when the issue is sitting right in front of you? Against the Chicago Bulls, Jordan Ott ran a nine-man rotation. Why not stretch that to ten? Why not inject a point of attack defender, someone who can at least make it tougher for opposing guards to turn the corner whenever they want?
You can roll Jordan Goodwin out there, and he competes, he fights, and gives you something. But if the counter is a simple screen to get him out of the action, then what? You are right back where you started. Now imagine that same action flowing into Dunn or Fleming. More length, more disruption, more resistance. It does not solve everything, but it changes the equation.
Because what we saw this week was a lack of resistance. Too many clean lanes, too many easy reads, too many possessions where the defense felt a step behind before it even started.
There is still time. One week left. Time to dig into the film, to adjust, to experiment with purpose. But it feels like this was the window to start leaning into those defensive pieces, to see what they can give you in real minutes, in real situations. Because both guys bring something this team needs. Defense first, effort, versatility, and the ability to hit a shot when asked. And in Fleming’s case, maybe more than that. The answers might still be there. It is about whether or not they choose to go find them.
So, as you walk away from Week 24, with the seventh seed essentially in hand, the next question shows up. Do you rest guys in Week 25? For me, the answer is no.
The Phoenix Suns have already had their share of rest, it just came in the form of injuries. Key players have missed time, rotations have been shuffled, and bodies have had breaks, whether planned or not. This final week is not about conserving energy. It is about sharpening it. This is the time to fine-tune. Clean up the defensive issues. Reestablish rhythm. Get the lineups reps that they have not had all season. Build something that you can actually rely on when the games matter a little more.
Because Week 24 left you uneasy. The results were fine. The process was not. And exceeding expectations early does not mean you take your foot off now. Opportunity is still there. A home Play In game, a chance to build momentum, a chance to become a problem for someone in the postseason.
Good teams recognize that window. Good teams attack it. This is not the time to coast. It is the time to lock in.
Week 24 Record: 2-2
@ Memphis Grizzlies, W, 131-105
- Possession Differential: +2.7
- Turnover Differential: -12
- Offensive Rebounding Differential: +14
This game was way too close for comfort for too long. Sure, the Suns exploded in the fourth. But you shouldn’t play with your food. You should eat it.
@ Orlando Magic, L, 115-111
- Possession Differential: -0.6
- Turnover Differential: -5
- Offensive Rebounding Differential: +2
Orlando was coming off a 52-point loss. The Suns could’ve and should’ve pounced on them. But the offense went inert in the fourth, shooting 29.2% from the field. It felt like the Suns found a new way to lose in this one rather than find a way to win.
@ Charlotte Hornets, L, 127-107
- Possession Differential: -0.2
- Turnover Differential: +2
- Offensive Rebounding Differential: -2
Phoenix started out strong, but one quarter doesn’t make the game. After outscoring the Hornets 41-33 in the first, they were outscored 97-66 the rest of the way.
@ Chicago Bulls, W, 120-110
- Possession Differential: -2.4
- Turnover Differential: -3
- Offensive Rebounding Differential: -3
It’s Chicago. It shouldn’t be that tough a game. But when your defense is matadoring, it is. 62 points in the paint for the Bulls. Sure, the Suns’ trio of Booker/Green/Brooks looked good in the fourth. They accounted for 26 points while the Bulls scored 26 as a team. But again, don’t play with your food.
Inside the Possession Game
- Weekly Possession Differential: -0.5
- Weekly Turnover Differential: -18
- Offensive Rebounding Differential: +11
- Year-to-Date Over/Under .500: +8
Your graph, dear reader.
It’s interesting when you zoom out and look at the possession game for the Phoenix Suns over the past month. The turnover differential tells a clean story. Week 20 was even, and since then, Phoenix has consistently been on the right side of it. They are protecting the ball, limiting mistakes, and when you trace it back to the start of the season, their worst stretch came right out of the gate. Since then, it has trended in the direction you want.
Winning the turnover battle is one of the simplest paths to winning games. Keep your possessions, do not hand extra ones to your opponent. Phoenix has done that. Being under zero for the week is a positive indicator. It shows control, it shows discipline, it shows an understanding of what matters.
Same thing on the glass offensively. You want to live above zero there, and they have. Extra possessions, second chances, more opportunities to score. That is another box they have been checking. So when you look at the possession-based metrics, they are moving the right way. The foundation is there.
And it shows up in the defensive results tied to those areas. Since March 9, they have allowed 14.4 points off turnovers, the third least in the league. Second-chance points allowed sit at 14.1, 12th-best over that span. They are not getting burned in those areas.
Which brings it back to the same pressure point. The paint. Because you can win the possession battle, you can control turnovers, you can generate second chances, but if teams are still getting downhill and scoring at will inside, it undercuts everything else you are doing right.
Fix that, even marginally, and suddenly all those positive trends start to translate into something more meaningful. That is where the ceiling shifts.
Week 25 Preview
This is it. The final week of the season. It’s kind of wild when you sit with it for a second. Not long ago we were theorizing about what the Phoenix Suns could be. Christmas came and went and they were not part of it. Now everything funnels into this week, where the postseason picture starts to sharpen. Before that happens, four games remain, two at home, two on the road, and all of them carry weight.
It starts Tuesday night at 8:00pm against Kevin Durant and the Houston Rockets. There is a layer to this one. Durant has yet to play in Phoenix as a visitor this season, so this could be the moment it occurs. Will we see the tribute, the acknowledgment, and the full circle feel? There is also the basketball side of it. Phoenix is 0–3 against Houston this year, the same team tied to one of the most significant transactions of the offseason. That alone gives this one some edge.
Then comes the back-to-back, because of course it does. Wednesday brings the Dallas Mavericks. On paper, it is a game you should handle. Reality does not always follow paper. You still have to show up, execute, and finish.
Friday shifts things to Los Angeles against the Lakers. Injuries have reshaped their roster as of late. Luka Doncic is sidelined, Austin Reaves is dealing with a core issue, and that changes the dynamic. It also makes this game even more important. This is a divisional matchup, the 17th of the season, and if tiebreakers come into play with teams like the Clippers, this is one you want in your pocket.
The week closes Sunday in Oklahoma City against the Thunder. They may have the top seed locked by then, they may not. Either way, their identity does not change. The intensity, the pressure, the way they play, that carries through the entire roster. There are no easy nights there, regardless of who is on the floor.
That is the week. No breathing room. No nights off. The Suns are finally getting healthy, and this becomes the proving ground. Four games to figure out what works, what lineups hold, what combinations make sense. Four games to build something that can carry into the Play In, and maybe beyond.
The runway is short. What you do with it matters.
17% thought Week 24 would end up 2-2 and the majority, 53%, thought 3-1 was in the cards.
