The Phoenix Suns (27-19) hosted the Brooklyn Nets (12-32) at Mortgage Matchup Center on Tuesday night.
The Suns were coming off a loss to the Miami Heat, while the Brooklyn Nets were winless in their last five games.
The Suns sat seventh in the Western Conference, while the Nets sat in 13th of the Eastern Conference.
Brooklyn was clearly rebuilding, but there was a chance for a trap game, as Phoenix was going to play without two key players.
“Defensively we got to disrupt,” Suns head coach Jordan Ott said. We got to find ways to rebound. Day’Ron (Sharpe) presents an interesting challenge on the glass, but we’re going to have to disrupt defensively and then fly around.”
The two teams faced each other a week prior, where Phoenix won126-117.
“I think that we did some good things,” Nets head coach Jordi Fernandez said. “Allowing 40 points and then fighting our way back. It was a little bit of up and down. I was proud of the fight. They’re a very physical team, so we have to be ready to handle that physicality offensively. They play the right way, they’re very well coached.”
The Suns were without stars Devin Booker (ankle) and Jalen Green (hamstring), while Collin Gillespie (hand) was on Game-Time Decision.
“Nothing new,” Ott said regarding Green’s injury. “No new injury. Obviously, he had a workout today. After shooting around he seems to be good. We’ll just continue to reassess, get him back, get him on the court when he’s ready to go.”
Considering the lack of depth at the shooting position, this could be a weakness the Nets could take advantage of.
For Brooklyn though, Noah Clowney (back) was also ruled out.
“No concern,” Fernandez said regarding Clowney’s injury. “Not really a timeline. We’re just taking it one day at a time and seeing how it feels. I think he’s feeling better, but not there yet.”
Without Green or Booker, Dillon Brooks led the team in scoring as he averaged 20.4 points per game.
Suns center Mark Williams was also a good piece, as he had 12 PPG and 8.2 rebounds per game.
As for the Nets, Nic Claxton led the team in rebounds with 7.5 RPG, and Michael Porter Jr. led the way in points with 24.9 PPG.
“It’s hard to get an impact,” Ott said regarding Porter Jr. “You’re trying to get him to miss. You try to get to the ball, knowing you’re probably not going to get to the ball. Try to make him as off balance as you can. He’s different.”
This game would likely be decided by the benches, as both sets were going to be critical for changing the game.
“Second unit is important,” Fernandez said. “Gives you the opportunity to rotate with 10 players, play as hard as you can. Those guys have helped us make pushes, take leads, and win games. They can change a game, sometimes the minutes may be different, sometimes that’s how it is.”
Before the game, Gillespie was ruled out, given Phoenix almost no depth at the guard position.
“Nothing major,” Ott said regarding Gillespie’s injury. “Fell on it in the game. Tried to do as much as he could to get it ready, thought yesterday there would be a chance.”
This would give guys such as Jamaree Bouyea and Jordan Goodwin more of a chance to impact the game for Phoenix.
“Other guys are going to have to step up,” Ott said. “We’re going to have to find it. It’s not a perfect science right now., when you go into the middle of the season a little banged up, everyone’s banged up.”
Early in the first, Brooks committed an offensive foul on Claxton that went under review for a possible hostile act.
The referees ultimately deemed that Brooks committed a flagrant 1 foul.
Late in the first quarter, the Nets went on an 8-0 run, helping them grab a 29-28 lead entering the second quarter.
“Credit to them,” Ott said regarding Brooklyn. “Handling our pressure. We knew they’d come out fighting, and they played extremely hard. They’re extremely well coached.”
Williams led the team in points with 10 points, while Brooks trailed with seven points.
“Just getting out on screens,” Williams said. “Knowing they were going to be a little more aggressive, so just taking advantage of that, getting to the rim. My teammates finding me helped get me going early.”
As for the Nets, Porter Jr. had 12 points.
Claxton had two points, three assists, and four rebounds.
Before the end of the first half, however, Brooks committed a foul on Egor Demin, and the referees gave Brooks a technical foul.
Entering the half, Phoenix led 60-51.
“We got a lot of points in the paint,” Williams said. “I think it’s a game-by-game thing. We were really able to get downhill.”
Porter Jr. had 19 points entering the second half, while no one else on Brooklyn broke seven points.
As for Phoenix, Williams had 14 points, while Brooks led the way with 18. Bouyea trailed behind them with eight points.
“We’ve got to find him,” Ott said regarding Williams. “He’s got to use this to develop; it’s all part of his growth. His growth is really going to help us going forward. We’re going to need him every single night. We have to involve Mark (Williams). We’ll definitely talk about it going forward, even where we are fully healthy.”
Entering the fourth, the Suns led 82-75.
Williams only had three rebounds but had 20 points.
“It’s on us to get him the ball,” Ott said. “Just being patient, knowing that he can always get to the rim, as we spring out, you put him on the rim, hopefully it creates a driving vacuum or a gap that you can get to, and he was able to apply it tonight.”
Even then, it was Brooks who led the charge with 22 points.
Grayson Allen was having a respectable game with 14 points, and Goodwin had a surprising number of rebounds, with seven.
“Just do what we can,” Williams said. “Guys stepping up, Goody (Goodwin) getting those boards, Ryan (Dunn) being a pest on the defensive end, getting steals. I think everybody did a good job tonight of stepping up.”
As for Brooklyn, they were a one-man show, as Porter Jr. had 30 points, while no one else on the team scored more than 10 points.
With seven minutes left, Phoenix was up 10 and looking to keep a tight grasp onto that lead.
With five minutes left, the Nets cut the lead to just two points.
With two minutes left, the game was tied at 100-100.
With 1:14 left, a loose ball foul was called before Brooks hit the deck, and a scuffle broke out, with Royce O’Neale and Terrance Mann exchanging words.
“I think it was definitely built up,” Williams said. “They were playing real physical. We were too, but I think they were just taking it to another level. There could’ve been better control of the game. They just took it over the top and we were just defending ourselves, having each other’s back, but it was definitely a buildup.”
Williams and Demin were in the middle of the scrum, and after the two teams were separated, the referees went to review the play as a hostile act.
“It’s incredibly hard to officiate,” Ott said. “They’re a hard playing team. You got to earn every single victory in the NBA. We play hard, we don’t flop. We don’t embellish and when that gets brought into the game, when we feel that, that creates frustration for our guys, but great credit to the resilience of this group.”
After the review, Mann, Demin, Porter Jr., O’Neale and Allen were all given technical fouls.
Due to Brooklyn getting three techs versus Phoenix’s two, the Suns got a free-throw, which Allen missed, followed by a jump ball between Brooks and Ben Saraf.
With 46 seconds, Phoenix led 104-102.
The Nets committed a shot clock violation, and Phoenix got the ball up two, with the game on the line.
Allen drove into the lane and got a crucial layup to give the Suns a 106-102 lead with 11.8 seconds left.
“Just his resilience,” Ott said. “He’s unique, he has the gravity. There’s some decision making in the paint, it’s not easy.”
The Nets called timeout before inbounding the ball to Porter Jr., but he missed, and the Suns ran out the clock to win 106-102.
“We found a way to win,” Williams said. “So that’s all that really matters.”
For the Suns, Williams finished with 27 points, a season-high for him, while Brooks finished with 26 points.
Goodwin led the team in rebounds with nine.
As for Brooklyn, Porter Jr. finished with 36 points, while Demin was second with only 15 points.
The Suns jump up to 28-19 while the Nets fall to 12-33.
The Suns meet the Detroit Pistons on Thursday night at Mortgage Matchup Center.