I had the pleasure (or displeasure based on the result) of being in the building for the Suns-Grizzlies game.
Phoenix plugged Mark Williams into the starting lineup for his first start of the season. Minutes
restriction be damned. I decided to track his every step with general thoughts. I am glad he showed out, because this could’ve been a very underwhelming write-up considering it was predetermined.
What better time to track every impactful moment from Mark Williams than on this fine evening?
His stints:
- Q1: 6 minutes, 34 seconds
- Q2: 5 minutes, 27 seconds
- Q3: 6 minutes, 34 seconds
- Q4: 9 minutes, 8 seconds
- Total: 27 minutes, 43 seconds
Final line: 20 points, 11 rebounds, 4 steals, 1 block, 1 assist, 9-11 FG, 28 minutes
Williams had a lot of strong contests, deflections, and altered plenty of shots. Thought he was moving the best he has all year on both ends of the floor. Super impactful game beyond the box score.
1st Quarter
Williams Q1 stats: 6 points, 1 rebound, 1 assist, 1 block, 3-3 FG, 7 minutes, +1
Mark Williams started the game with a nice roll to the rim, finishing an easy two. He followed that up a couple of possessions later with a nice dish to Ryan Dunn for his first assist of the game.
He picked up his first foul of the game at the 9:20 mark. His next two buckets were easy looks at the rim to get him up to 6 points in the quarter. Williams checked out after his first 7-minute stint.
2nd Quarter
Williams Q2 stats: 4 points, 2 rebounds, 1 steal, 2-3 FG, 5:30 minutes, +4
Mark checked in with 5:27 left in the half for his second stint. Immediately catches and tips a lob; it rims out, but he’s able to secure the miss and put it in. His next bucket… wait for it… another easy 4-footer at the rim.
He got beat off the dribble on a Jaren Jackson Jr. drive with a late contest towards the end of the quarter, but his movement overall looked the best it has this season.
3rd Quarter
Williams Q3 stats: 6 points, 4 rebounds, 1 steal, 3-4 FG, 6:30 minutes, +/- 0
The first bucket of the third for Mark came off a lob for another easy finish from a Ryan Dunn dime. He continued to feast inside, with Memphis struggling to contain him at the rim.
He followed that up with another inside look, cleaning up his own miss to give him 16 & 6 through his first 16 minutes of action.
At the 6:40 mark, he ripped down his 7th rebound, then the very next defensive possession, he held his ground on a drive for a positive defensive stand. That vertical defensive threat we all hoped for. He checked out at the 5:26 mark, similar to his first 7-minute stretch in the opening quarter.
4th Quarter
Williams Q4 stats: 4 points, 4 rebounds, 2 steals, 1-1 FG, 2-2 FT, 9:05 minutes +1,
The big fella drew a trip to the charity stripe at the 8:09 mark and connected on both to push his total to 18 points. The next possession down, he ripped a contested rebound away from Santi Aldama to collect his 8th board of the game.
Williams’ 10th rebound was snared after an excellent contest to force a miss at the rim. It led to a transition jumper for Booker to cut the lead down to 4 with 4:05.
Williams had a massive deflection that he tipped out and led to a Suns’ fastbreak, where Devin Booker drew the foul and hit both free throws to cut the lead to two. His hands were everywhere. Contests, deflections, you name it.
A massive steal from Williams with just over a minute remaining led to a slam on the other end, shifting the momentum entirely.
Unfortunately, the euphoria was short-lived as Ja Morant hit a game-winner with 7 seconds left. Phoenix had a chance, but Booker missed. Game over. Another heartbreaker for these Suns.
On an encouraging note, at least Mark Williams showed out for the second straight game. We have something here.
