The Republic discusses the Suns’ upcoming homestand, matchup with Spurs
The Phoenix Suns begin a 3-game homestand on Oct. 29, in which they host the Memphis Grizzlies, Utah Jazz and San Antonio Spurs.
Republic staff
The Phoenix Suns ended a four-game losing skid with a 118-96 revenge win Oct. 31 over the Utah Jazz in NBA Cup West Group play before a sellout crowd of 17,071 at Mortgage Matchup Center.
Devin Booker paced the Suns (2-4) with a season-high 36 points to mark his fourth straight 30-point game. He’s the first player in Suns history to post five 30-point games in the first six games of a season.
The Suns closed the first quarter with a 23-2 run to take a 37-17 advantage.
The win comes just a few days after trailing by as many as 20 points in the first quarter of their overtime loss Monday, Oct. 27 at Utah.
Phoenix led by as many as 25 points on Friday.
“Just our pressure,” Suns coach Jordan Ott said. “I think our energy, our pressure, we talked about it, setting the tone early. I think it is back-to-back games, we made a big deal after we came home off the road trip of just starting games better. That obviously helped tonight, just our overall, our pressure.”
The Suns (2-4) end their three-game homestand Sunday against Victor Wembanyama and the undefeated San Antonio Spurs (5-0). San Antonio is coming off a 107-101 win Oct. 30 over the Miami Heat as the 7-foot-4 Wembanyama finished with 27 points, 18 rebounds, six assists and five blocks.
“It’s something we’ve never seen before,” Booker said, about Wembanyama’s dominant play so far. “We’ll deal with that tomorrow, get into the scout. Look at it closer, but I’ve seen the compilation highlight reels. We haven’t seen it before.”
“Yeah. We need to build on it.”
Devin Booker when asked if 23-2 run to end 1st was one of the best stretches for the Suns this season.
On facing Victor Wembanyama in Sunday’s matchup against the unbeaten San Antonio Spurs: “It’s something we’ve never seen before. We’ll deal… pic.twitter.com/bRDRYISN8q
— Duane Rankin (@DuaneRankin) November 1, 2025Defense fuels 20-point lead in first quarter
The numbers say a lot, but don’t tell the whole story of Phoenix’s dominant first quarter.
Phoenix shot 53.6% from the field with Booker scoring 12 points on 5-of-7 shooting. The Suns scored 16 points off nine Utah turnovers and only committed one turnover. Utah went 3-of-10 from 3.
The Suns generated those numbers by playing harder, faster and with more tempo than the Jazz. There was hardly wasted motion and they got Utah out of any comfort zone with active hands and body movement on defense.
“Our energy, our pressure, we talked about it. Setting the tone early. Back-to-back games, we made it a big deal after we came home off the road trip on starting games better.”
Jordan Ott as Suns led 37-17 after 1st quarter in 118-96 win over Jazz.
On Devin Booker’s defense a… pic.twitter.com/ZON0AAm5Xz
— Duane Rankin (@DuaneRankin) November 1, 2025Suns kept Jazz off the offensive glass
The Suns got the message.
After the Jazz ravaged them with 28 offensive rebounds that led to 33 second-chance points Monday, Ott dialed up even more emphasis on rebounding.
Ott said the Suns started training camp with a defensive boxout drill. They have four bigs, but the Suns are small at the four and three positions. Phoenix knows it has a smaller team and has to rebound with a collective effort.
“We know that’s going to be a topic all season long,” Ott said pregame Friday. “It’s not going away until we really, really focus in on it and do the best we can with five guys, but definitely, again, they heard it from the film, the very first part of the scout, to the last drill we did today in shootaround.”
The Suns got the message. They allowed just six offensive rebounds in the first half in taking a 54-40 halftime lead. Utah finished with just 12 offensive rebounds, managing just nine second-chance points.
The Suns had all five guys rebound. Eight players grabbed at least two rebounds with Ryan Dunn grabbing 11 rebounds to match a career high on the glass.
“For this team, that’s something I need to do.”
Ryan Dunn as he tied his career high in rebounds with 11 with 8 coming on the defensive end in Suns win.
Felt need to work defensive boards after just two rebounds total (one defensive) in Suns OT loss Monday at Jazz, who had 28… pic.twitter.com/NqflSBQi2B
— Duane Rankin (@DuaneRankin) November 1, 2025
They boxed out better even against the taller Jazz front court to the point Booker was nearly bent forward keeping the 7-foot-1 Markkanen off the boards. Phoenix met the physicality and didn’t back down.
How many 30-point games can Booker have?
The most 30-point games Devin Booker has had in a single season is 28 in both the 2019-20 season and the 2021-22 season.
Amar’e Stoudemire has the Suns record for most 30-point games in a single season with 29 in 2004-05. Booker will need to break that record for the Suns to have a fighting chance this season.
If it means forcing shots, so be it. If it means launching over the double team, so be it. If it means taking a shot after passing it to a teammate and seeing that teammate miss multiple open 3s, so be it.
Grayson Allen on Devin Booker posting 4th straight 30-point game and 5th in his 1st 6 games this season in Suns win over Jazz: “It’s really impressive because I feel like looking at the makeup of our team and how people are guarding us, he’s getting blitzed most possessions.… pic.twitter.com/Xe5N2MgNZq
— Duane Rankin (@DuaneRankin) November 1, 2025
The Suns helped him out Friday by having him work off the ball more, but Booker isn’t just a scorer. He’s become a more complete player who can facilitate and find teammates in traffic, off the catch, within the offense and when initiating action.
Taking shots also rules out a turnover. Booker, who turned 29 on Thursday, had just one turnover Friday night.
This was not only his best offensive night, but his most efficient. He went 13-of-23 overall, connecting on 6-of-9 from 3. He isn’t going to shoot it that way every game, but Booker being aggressive opens it up for everyone else.
“We were defending a lot better than we did the last time we played them. We started off down 19-2. That was a point of emphasis for us tonight.”
Devin Booker as Suns went on a 23-2 run to lead, 37-17, after one in 118-96 win Friday over Utah.
Suns trailed by 20 in first… pic.twitter.com/HW1PtxrF0z
— Duane Rankin (@DuaneRankin) November 1, 2025Who didn’t play, who got hurt
The Suns are still without Jalen Green (right hamstring strain) and Dillon Brooks (core muscle strain) as Ott said they’re both day-to-day.
The Suns lost two-way player Isaiah Livers to a right hip contusion in the first half of Friday’s game. A two-way player, Livers had a right hip reshaping procedure in October 2024 that sidelined him for the entire 2024-25 season.
He played three minutes in the first half but didn’t score, missing his only shot attempt. Livers had worked his way into the rotation in helping fill the void left by Brooks’ absence.
Green has yet to play this season due to a right hamstring strain suffered in training camp leading up to the Oct. 3 preseason opener against the Los Angeles Lakers in Palm Desert. Green reaggravated the injury during Phoenix’s weeklong stay in China for two games against the Brooklyn Nets. He didn’t miss a game in his last two seasons with the Houston Rockets before being traded to the Suns in the Kevin Durant deal.
Brooks, also traded in that deal, missed his third straight game. He’s averaging a career-high 19.3 points in his first season with the Suns.
The Suns have been playing every other day, thus reducing opportunities for Brooks and Green to play 5-on-5 in practice, but the team seems to be taking precautions with both players.
Have opinions about the current state of the Suns? Reach Suns Insider Duane Rankin at dmrankin@gannett.com or contact him at 480-810-5518. Follow him on X, formerly Twitter, at @DuaneRankin.
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