The night started with a conversation with Rex Chapman during Dave King’s Bright Side Night Q&A, and fittingly, it centered on the exact thing that has made this season so damn fun. Toughness. Grit. The way
this team competes possession by possession and drags you into the mud with them. The joy fans are finding in watching a group that actually enjoys the fight.
Then, almost on cue, the Suns went out and validated every word.
Because what followed was a full-on dogfight. Two flagrant fouls. Four technicals by Phoenix, maybe more, I honestly lost track. Bodies flying. Whistles screaming. Emotions boiling over. And sure, Brooklyn is not a good team, but they have young talent and enough juice to make you uncomfortable if you let them.
Phoenix did not let them.
They did it without Devin Booker. Without Jalen Green. Without Collin Gillespie. Without Isaiah Livers. Short-handed and annoyed, the Suns earned every inch of that win. No freebies. No cruise control.
It mattered because it stopped the bleeding. It steadied the week. And with tougher games looming, it was the kind of win that reminds you who this team is when things get messy.
Bright Side Baller Season Standings
It was close. Insanely close. I thought Isaiah Livers, who provided a spark off the bench against the Heat, was going to be baptized with his first Bright Side Baller of the season. But alas, the Michigan alum will have to wait for another day.
As I said, it was close. Dillon Brooks ultimately won it. By two votes.
Bright Side Baller Nominees
Game 47 against the Nets. Here are your nominees:
Mark Williams
27 points (13-of-16), 6 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal, 1 block, 0 turnovers, +7 +/-
Dillon Brooks
26 points (9-of-15, 2-of-5 3PT), 3 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 steal, 1 block, 3 turnovers, +4 +/-
Grayson Allen
18 points (7-of-11, 2-of-4 3PT), 3 rebounds, 6 assists, 1 steal, 2 turnovers, +4 +/-
Ryan Dunn
9 points (4-of-6, 1-of-2 3PT), 2 rebounds, 2 assists, 4 steals, 0 turnovers, -7 +/-
Jamaree Bouyea
10 points (5-of-11), 3 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal, 1 block, 2 turnovers, +9 +/-
Royce O’Neale
7 points (2-of-9), 2 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 steals, 1 block, 1 turnover, +1 +/-
…and the winner is?
