This might be the worst loss of the season, considering the circumstances. Chicago was down eight players and had lost 12 of their last 13 games entering this contest.
The Phoenix Suns operated with the panicked urgency of a college student starting a midnight term paper at 11:00 PM. Unfortunately for them, they got close to submitting it on time, but procrastination early on is what cost them the game in the final moments.
It was an ugly game until the very end. Collin Sexton took over and dropped
30 points, and the young guys were running wild, which is fitting for a team named the Bulls. Tre Jones had 21 points on 9-15 shooting. Credit to Chicago for playing hard, but it is unacceptable for this type of game to happen in the first of a back-to-back.
Chicago was without a great deal of key players, including Josh Giddey and Matas Buzelis, who were questionable entering the day.
Devin Booker poured in 27 points, and Grayson Allen chipped in 21. Outside of that duo, the offense was just not there. They made a late run, but fell short.
Game Flow
First Half
The Suns got off to a slow start. Chicago jumped ahead to a 9-2 lead in the opening minutes after stagnant offense and easy buckets for the Bulls. That led to a frustrated Jordan Ott timeout with 8:13 remaining in the quarter.
A beautiful (ATO) after-timeout play was drawn up by Ott and executed to perfection to free up Jalen Green for a three-point connection.
We had early Khaman Maluach minutes! He checked about halfway through the quarter. He snatched two rebounds in his first minute on the court.
Cold shooting and lazy defense from the Suns led to a 20-9 Chicago lead and another Suns timeout.
The lineup of Maluach, Fleming, Dunn, Allen, and Gillespie brought some needed life back into the Suns, at least defensively. One of the lone highlights of the quarter was this rookie connection.
The offense continued to struggle. It was an ugly quarter. Phoenix trailed 24-20 after one. Scoring 20 points against this Bulls team in any quarter is unacceptable.
Grayson Allen knocked down a pair of threes early in the second quarter to kickstart the offense. The first chunk of the second quarter was just as frustrating as the first quarter was. The offense was stagnant. Iso ball. Turnovers. Lazy defense.
Chicago was in control, 41-32, while dictating the pace of the game at that point.
Devin Booker scored 7 straight points after he was frustrated with a no-call the previous play, but the Suns’ defense was not getting it done, so they didn’t cover any ground during that stretch.
The Bulls were playing loose, they were playing free, and having fun while pushing the ball up the floor nearly every possession.
Phoenix closed out the half strong and was fortunate to only be down by five after being down by as many as 11. Chicago led 55-50 at the break. Devin Booker paced the Suns with 16 points, followed by 14 from Grayson Allen. Collin Sexton led Chicago with 16 of his own.
Second Half
The third quarter looked like more of the same early on. Chicago made it clear they were not going down without a fight.
Oso Ighodaro started to find himself offensively a bit, as teammates were hitting him in stride on the way to the rim a few possessions in a row.
The defensive intensity picked up a bit for Phoenix, but unfortunately, the shots weren’t consistently falling, not to mention the turnover issues. Devin Booker was still getting to his spot, at the very least.
Collin Sexton was absolutely cooking Phoenix, pouring in 24 points well before the end of the third quarter.
Outside of Booker and Allen, the rest of the Suns’ shotmakers struggled to put the ball through the hoop. The Bulls had 58 points in the paint through the opening three quarters. They were relentless in attacking the rim all game long.
After three, Phoenix trailed 83-77.
Chicago opened the 4th on a 7-2 run to extend their lead to 11, leading to a Jordan Ott timeout. Chicago was leading by double digits with less than five minutes remaining. A Jalen Green transition slam, followed by a Grasyon Allen triple, made it a seven-point ballgame with 4:22 left in the game.
An Amir Coffey triple injected some caffeine (sorry) into the arena to cut it to four, 98-94. Coffey drilled another one to cut it to three with less than 40 seconds remaining to answer a Yabusele triple the prior possession.
A Devin Booker triple made it a one-point game after Chicago split a pair of free throws on the other end. It was 104-103 with 22.2 seconds left after a 16-4 Phoenix run.
Nick Richards missed a free-throw in a two-point game with just a few seconds left, then Tre Jones made a high IQ play after the rebound bounced his way by throwing it straight up in the air as the time expired.
Up Next
The Suns get the Pelicans at home tomorrow night for the second of a back-to-back.
