Despite losing 108-105 to the Detroit Pistons, the Phoenix Suns should hold their heads high for how well they competed. With Devin Booker ruled out hours before tipoff, the Suns went toe-to-toe with the best team in the Eastern Conference. The game was a knockdown, drag you out of the ring kind of fight. The Pistons are one of the most physical teams in the NBA, and the Suns fought right back.
Grasyon Allen, despite his struggles shooting late in the game, was incredible for the Suns. He scored 33
points on 11-of-25 shooting and was 7-for-20 from the 3-point line. He picked up the slack for Dillon Brooks, who had one of his worst games in a Suns uniform. He scored 16 points on 4-of-16 from the field and was in foul trouble for the majority of the game. Without Booker, the Suns’ game plan was to play ultra-aggressive defense and shoot a ton of threes on offense. It almost worked, but the Suns were only able to score 15 points in the fourth quarter after scoring 90 points through the first three quarters.
Aside from Allen’s 33 points, the stars of the game for Phoenix came from the bench. Oso Ighodaro scored 10 points and had six steals, while Jordan Goodwin scored 7 points, grabbed 12 rebounds, recorded three steals, and a block. The Suns’ bench did enough to win them the game, but the offense went flat in the fourth quarter.
The Suns defensively flustered Cade Cunningham, who scored 10 points on 3-of-16 shooting, dished out 11 assists, but committed five turnovers. Duncan Robinson scored 19 points to lead Detroit, while Jalen Duren dominated the Suns in the paint. He scored 16 points and grabbed 18 rebounds. With Cunningham struggling, Tobias Harris and Jaden Ivey came to the rescue and scored 31 combined points for the Pistons to eke out a win over the Booker-less Suns.
Game Flow
First Half
The Suns could not hit the broad side of the barn to start the first quarter. They started the game 1-of-8 (1-of-7 from three) and found themselves in an early 11-3 hole. The game could have gotten away from Phoenix if not for Grayson Allen. He blocked Cade Cunningham in transition, then stripped Tobias Harris in transition, and stole the ball from Duncan Robinson, all in a four-minute stretch. His tenacity on the defensive end set the tone. Allen then got going on offense, hitting a circus layup over Jalen Duren, a 3-point shot, a pair of free throws, and a deep three to get the Suns an early 15-13 lead with 5:36 left in the first.
The Pistons’ bench unit responded, as Jaden Ivey came in and scored a quick five points, but Ighodaro matched him with multiple finishes, including this poster over Isaiah Stewart.
With that flat-footed Ighodaro poster, the Suns finished the quarter on an explosive 14-3 run. Two Collin Gillespie 3-point bombs and an Allen quick trigger end of the quarter 30 foot 3-point jumper were the catalysts. Allen finished the quarter with 13 points as the Suns led 32-23, without Devin Booker.
The Suns’ bench continued to outplay the Pistons’ bench in the second quarter. As impressive as the shot-making was, the Suns’ switching, aggressive defense flummoxed the Pistons on offense. The Suns’ defense forced multiple turnovers and kept the Pistons’ ball screen-heavy offense at half court. An early 10-2 advantage in points off turnovers led Phoenix to a 42-27 lead halfway through the second period. Detroit could not manage any semblance of offense against the five man unit of Ighodaro, Ryan Dunn, Jordan Goodwin, Collin Gillespie, and Isaiah Livers.
Then the Dillon Brooks portion of the game happened. After a Royce O’Neale triple, Brooks made another 3-point shot on the next possession, got fouled, and completed the four-point play. The Suns surged ahead 50-34, and then the wheels came all the way off this game.
Brooks started instigating and drawing fouls on the Pistons, which had Jalen Green and Booker laughing on the bench. Then, the Pistons’ Ron Holland Jr. and Brooks got tangled up, leading to a Brooks flagrant foul, swiping at the ball after being stripped and catching Holland in the face. A kerfuffle ensued that led to Duncan Robinson half-heartedly shoving Brooks, resulting in a technical foul. A few plays later, Holland steamrolled over Brooks and was originally called for a charge, but that call was overturned to a blocking foul. The blocking call was Brooks’s fourth foul in the first half. This coincided with a Pistons 12-1 run that got them to within five, down 54-49. All the hard work the Suns had done had almost vanished.
But it was Holland and Stewart’s turn to instigate. Holland picked up Gillespie full court and was incredibly physical. Gillespie eventually drew a foul on Holland and then went in for a dead-ball layup after the whistle and was sent to the floor by Stewart. Stewart picked up the dead-ball technical foul. Gillespie hit his free throws, and then the Suns’ first-half hero hit two 3-point shots to finish the half with 21 points, and the Suns had a seven-point lead at halftime, 63-56.
Second Half
In the third quarter, the Pistons woke up. The Suns came out flat on both ends of the floor. Perhaps it was fatigue or just the simple fact that the Suns were missing the best player on the team in Booker. Duren and Robinson were lights out for the Pistons: Robinson shot the lights out from the 3-point line, and Duren dominated the Suns on the glass. He overpowered Williams and everyone else on the floor and snatched every board. The Suns were physically dominated on the glass, and the Pistons gained an 81-76 lead midway through the third. Offensively, the Suns struggled to make any shot from long range after connecting on 10 3-point field goals in the first half.
However, once the Suns went to the bench, their energy and effectiveness picked up again. Time after time this season, the Suns’ bench has been the catalyst for staying in games, and it was again against Detroit. When Goodwin, Dunn, and Ighodaro check in, the Suns’ swarming defense hits another level that creates opportunities on the other end of the floor. When the Suns didn’t score in transition this quarter, it was Gillespie who took over, making difficult midrange pullups and deep pullup triples. The Suns’ bench was so good that, despite being thoroughly outplayed for the majority of the third quarter, the Suns still led 90-89 with one quarter to play.
The fourth quarter was a struggle for both teams offensively. After a Dunn dish to Williams to start the quarter, the Suns scored a total of six points in the first six minutes of the quarter. The Pistons were slightly better, Duren got free for a couple of easy finishes, and Harris scored some difficult midrange shots to go on an extended 13-2 run and take a 102-96 lead. When Brooks checked in for Phoenix, he tried to get it going by isolating against Pistons defenders, but his usual midrange shots just were not falling. His night ended early as he fouled out with over two minutes left in the game.
The only offense the Suns could muster for most of the quarter was forcing turnovers that led two fastbreak points. The Suns turned the Pistons over twice, leading to fastbreak layups for Ighodaro and Allen to cut the deficit to 102-100. The Pistons’ only points for the rest of the game came from the free throw line. The Suns were only down 106-102 with two minutes left and had opportunities. The Suns kept generating good looks from the 3-point line for Allen, but he could not hit any of them. The game should have been over, but the Pistons kept missing free throws. Allen finally hit a 3-point shot with 3.1 seconds left in the fourth to cut the Pistons’ lead to 107-105. Robinson went 1-for-2 for the Pistons and the Suns, without any timeouts, threw the ball the length of the floor down to Allen, who got off a desperation heave that sailed off the backboard.
Up Next
The Phoenix Suns face the New York Knicks on Saturday at 5:30 pm Arizona time.
