2025 NBA Epitome Games: Phoenix Suns #NBA #Suns #Thunder
You are watching the 2025 NBA Epitome Game Series presented by Law Murray, Power Rankings Project Ring Master at The Athletic. This is where I pick out one game from each team from the last regular season. I am putting the spotlight on the biggest weakness of the 14 teams that missed the playoffs and the biggest strength of the 16 playoff teams from the regular season. This installment features the Phoenix Suns. I said last year that the Suns defense projects to be suspect. Phoenix went from being embarrassing in the fourth quarter to being embarrassing in all quarters, wasting a great shooting team with a bottom five defense. The epitome game for the Suns came at Oklahoma City in February, right before the trade deadline. That means that by this time, the Suns had alienated Kevin Durant and Brley Bill already. Bill came off the bench. Durant sat out and as usual, the Suns defense was absent as well. End the quarter defensive situation. Ryan Dunn is going to get help from Devin Booker on Shay Alexander, but there’s no rotation to the next pass. Isaiah Joe hits a buzzer beating three. And the Suns did not have a single steal in the first quarter of this game. In fact, the only steal that the Suns had in the first half of this game comes right here. Isaiah Joe gets it to Alex Caruso. Caruso pumps Taius Jones, drives baseline, sees Isaiah Hardenstein late. Hartstein can’t handle the hot pass. Mason Plumbley gets credited with a steal. The Suns did not score off of this turnover. However, the Suns led by as many as 12 in the first half. The third quarter, absolute avalanche. Live ball turnover by the Suns. Aaron Wiggins pushes, gets it to Sha Gildas Alexander. Now Shay Gillis Alexander, he’s gonna put this ball behind his back. Tyus Jones reaches. SGA teaches. This is going to force a timeout. It was not going to help. The Suns made one basket the entire third quarter. Shay outscored the Suns 18 to 16 by himself. By the fourth quarter, Shay’s only in the game to drop 50 on the Suns. Spoiler alert, he gets it on display. It doesn’t matter that Bradley Beal and Grayson Allen had him pinned on the sideline. Shay gets his 50. And also, this game had a 50point turnaround. The Suns lost this game 140 to 109, allowing a 24-6 assist to turnover ratio. The Suns allowed 14 more offensive rebounds and forced 16 fewer turnovers, a minus 30 in the possession battle in a game they lost by 31 points. Only the Jazz were worse at forcing turnovers last season, and only two teams had fewer steals than the Suns. You’d be shocked to learn that the Suns fired their head coach for the third year in a row with Mike Budenhoer being replaced by Cavaliers assistant Jordan, who was actually hired by the Hawks 12 years ago to be Bud’s video coordinator. points are continuity, something Phoenix won’t have much of on next year’s roster outside of the newly extended Devin Booker. Durant was traded to Houston for Jaylen Green and Dylan Brooks, and Bill was waved with nearly 100 million left on his no trade clause contract. The Suns also drafted center Kaman Malawatch 10th overall while acquiring former Hornets center Mark Williams. This team went from being in the finals four years ago to upset in the semi-finals as a one seed to getting blown out at home again in the semifinals to getting swept in the quarterfinals to out of the playoff conversation entirely. Stay tuned for the next installment of the 2025 NBA game series featuring the Chicago Bulls.
2025 NBA Epitome Games: Phoenix Suns #NBA #Suns #Thunder
