When I first scanned the Week 15 slate, knowing Devin Booker was out and Jalen Green felt like a daily coin flip, I checked the standings and felt a weird sense of calm. 8 games over .500 buys you some
emotional insulation.
Lose your offensive engine, lose the guy who bends the floor and breaks coverage, and stare at uncertainty behind him, expectations naturally slide. A 1-3 at home felt reasonable. Logical. The safe ending you convince yourself is coming.
Instead, the Suns did what they always do. They flipped the script. Community votes said one thing, reality said another, and suddenly, expecting the unexpected felt less like a slogan and more like a survival skill.
This season is turning into a full M Night Shyamalan experience. The kind where the clues were there the whole time, hiding in plain sight. Red threads everywhere.
Now we sit on the other side of Week 15, and the anomalies are screaming. 30-20. One more win clears the preseason over/under like it never mattered. Mark Williams quietly sets a career high with 45 games played. Dillon Brooks sneaks into All-Star replacement conversations.
At some point, you stop asking what world this is and start appreciating it. No dead people here. Only light, chaos, and a Suns season that refuses to behave.
Week 15 Record: 3-1
vs. Brooklyn Nets, W, 106-102
- Possession Differential: -0.6
- Turnover Differential: -5
- Offensive Rebounding Differential: -2
The night opened with Rex Chapman talking toughness at Dave King’s Bright Side Night Q&A, and what followed was a full-on dogfight. Flagrants. Techs. Bodies everywhere. Brooklyn tried to make it ugly, and Phoenix gladly met them there.
Short-handed and irritated, the Suns earned every inch of a win that mattered. It stopped the bleeding, steadied the week, and reminded everyone exactly who this team is when the game gets messy.
vs. Detroit Pistons, W, 114-96
- Possession Differential: -0.5
- Turnover Differential: +6
- Offensive Rebounding Differential: +2
The Suns threw the first punch against the East’s best, bombing 47.4% from deep and bullying their way to a 16-point halftime lead. Then Detroit reminded everyone who they are, ripping off an 18-5 run and turning the game into a street fight. No panic. No folding. Phoenix closed the third on a 16-7 run that decided everything.
No Devin Booker. No Jalen Green. Expectations be damned. This team found stability anyway, rode its tone-setter in Dillon Brooks, and earned a win that I didn’t see coming.
vs. Cleveland Cavaliers, W, 126-113
- Possession Differential: -3.9
- Turnover Differential: -2
- Offensive Rebounding Differential: -7
The Suns spent the first half teasing separation, forcing 16 turnovers but clanking their way to a five-point lead that felt flimsier than it should have. Then the third quarter happened. 45 points. A full-scale detonation. They went 16-of-20, splashed 7-of-10 from deep, and ripped control away from a legit Cavaliers team. The fourth got sloppy with bench chaos, but the message stuck. 3 straight wins. 30 on the season. No Devin Booker. Something is happening here.
vs. Los Angeles Clippers, L, 117-93
- Possession Differential: —5.0
- Turnover Differential: —13
- Offensive Rebounding Differential: -5
Sunday night was one of those NBA reality checks where effort shows up, but the answers stay home. The Suns competed without Devin Booker and Jalen Green, but rhythm never arrived. They clanged their way to 12-of-47 from two, turned 18 Clippers’ turnovers into a measly 13 points, and watched Los Angeles sniff out the size mismatch and live in the paint.
Inside the Possession Game
- Weekly Possession Differential: -10.0
- Weekly Turnover Differential: -14
- Offensive Rebounding Differential: -12
- Year-to-Date Over/Under .500: +10
Graph it first. Talk about it second.
Statistically, when you look at the possession battle, it was a paradox of a week. The Suns lost the possession margin in every game, the rebounding was rough, and extra chances were hard to come by. They did take care of the ball though, committing 14 fewer turnovers than their opponents across the week, which kept them afloat even when the math tilted the wrong way.
As usual with this team, the story lives in the margins.
The Suns ranked second in the NBA with 20.8 deflections per game. They were fifth with 5.3 loose balls recovered a night. They ranked sixth in three-point accuracy at 40.4%, and second in frequency, taking 46.7% of their shots from beyond the arc. Think back to the 40/40 club last season, when they hit 40% from deep while taking 40% of their shots from three, something they did seven times.
This is still a three-point team. Live by it, die by it. Three nights this week, it carried them. One night, the inability to score inside the arc is what sank them. Sustainability comes from balance, and that balance is waiting on the other side of a healthier Devin Booker.
Week 16 Preview
The Week 16 slate is lighter than what we have been dealing with lately, and that is a welcome change. Five games in eight days will do that to you. So a breather feels earned. Three games on the schedule this week, and each one carries its own flavor.
It starts Tuesday night in Portland, a 9:00pm tip on NBC. Late for the local crowd, unavoidable for Rip City. Portland flashed early this season, looked frisky for a moment, then slowly slid back toward the group eyeing lottery odds. This one matters because it is the only road game the Suns will play over a ten-game stretch. Get in, handle business, get out.
Then comes Thursday. Back home. Golden State in the building. An 8:00pm start on Prime Video. National windows tend to follow teams that earn them, and the Suns are starting to stack those appearances. Contrast again. A lighter week, but not a lighter test.
The week wraps on Saturday at home against Philadelphia. A familiar opponent as the Suns already took one from the Sixers in Philly on January 20, 116-110.
Different week but with the same expectation. Three games, two at home. A chance to breathe, but not to relax.
Last week, only 4% of the community thought the team would go 3-1. And 0% voted for a 4-0 slate. Yet here we are, and this team continues to show us that capability can meet reality.
So, what is your prediction for Week 16?
