What was your first car? The hand-me-down that landed in your lap after your older sibling had their way with it? By the time you turned 16 it was no longer a vehicle, it was a survivor. Mine was a 1990 Ford Escort family station wagon. The rear passenger door did not open. Not stuck, not stubborn, it simply refused. A true clunker in every romantic and mechanical sense of the word.
That is what Friday night against the Houston Rockets was. A clunker. It was loud, shaky, unreliable, and doomed the moment
it pulled out of the driveway.
Maybe you’d call it “clanker” as well. The Suns were ice cold from deep, 14% on three-point shots. Houston made ten triples on half the attempts. Same night, two very different realities.
The Suns came out with effort and intention, locked in for about a quarter and change. Then Kevin Durant checked back in, the three pointers kept missing, and the whole thing slid sideways.
The avalanche followed, slow at first, then all at once. There was a road back if the shots started to fall, but they never did. It bled straight into the second half. The offense lost its compass. The rhythm disappeared. The team looked aimless, swerving lane to lane, white knuckled and guessing.
It felt exactly like that first drive in my old Escort, winding through 48th Street between Osborn and Indian School Road.
Bright Side Baller Season Standings
It was close, but CG12 gets it for Monday’s performance against the Lakers. And with Booker missing time and three players right on his heels, it’s a matter of time before someone ties Book’s 5 on the year. Side note: it’s been quite some time since Booker won a BSB, hasn’t it?
Bright Side Baller Nominees
Game 23 against the Rockets. Here are your nominees:
Dillon Brooks
23 points (10-of-24, 0-of-4 3PT), 4 rebounds, 4 assists, 0 steals, 3 turnovers, -24 +/-
Jamaree Bouyea
18 points (7-of-11, 2-of-3 3PT), 2 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal, 0 turnovers, -3 +/-
Collin Gillespie
13 points (5-of-13, 1-of-7 3PT), 2 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 turnover, -12 +/-
Mark Williams
10 points (4-of-6, 0-0 3PT), 3 rebounds, 2 steals, 2 turnovers, -21 +/-
Grayson Allen
9 points (3-of-12, 1-of-7 3PT), 2 rebounds, 0 assists, 1 steal, 3 turnovers, -29 +/-
Jordan Goodwin
9 points (4-of-13, 1-of-6 3PT), 5 rebounds, 2 assists, 0 +/-
Fire away. Hopefully you’ll hit, even if the Suns didn’t:
