The Phoenix Suns (27-18) hosted the Miami Heat (24-22) at Mortgage Matchup Center on Sunday night.
The Suns were coming off a six-game road trip, in which they faced Miami, where the Heat won 127-121.
“We know how hard this team plays,” Suns head coach Jordan Ott said regarding the Heat. “Defensively, it’s what they’ve always done. They’re a top 10 defense; they take it from you, the ability to switch, really good defenders. We have more than enough to go out there and play our tails off and see where it goes.”
Despite the road trip, 16 out of the next 19 games for the Phoenix Suns will be played at home, alongside two weeks of rest in between.
“All of it will be good,” Ott said. “You want to be at home. Playing in front of the crowd is always helpful, but we got to take care of business. We know what’s coming, tonight’s a different challenge. We like our schedule going forward but we got to take care of business tonight.”
The Suns sat sixth in the Western Conference, while the Heat sat eighth in the Eastern Conference.
The Suns had tasted a three-game win streak and the return of star Jalen Green during the road trip, while the Heat were coming off a dominating win over the Utah Jazz.
The Heat were without Kel’el Ware (hamstring) who led the team in rebounds with 9.8 rebounds per game.
On top of that, the Heat had Norman Powell (back), Andrew Wiggins (hamstring), and Davion Mitchell (shoulder) all on Game-Time Decision.
Before the game, however, the Heat ruled Mitchell out for the game.
“He’s definitely making progress,” Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra said regarding Mitchell’s health. “But we need to go through some kind of workout where he takes contact and then see how he responds to that. But everything else is trending in a really good way.”
Powell led the team in points with 23.3 points per game, and Mitchell was averaging 7.2 assists per game, which was also the most on the team.
Despite that, all eyes were on Phoenix, as star player Devin Booker (ankle) was ruled out against the Heat.
“Just a right ankle sprain,” Ott said. “Out for at least seven days. Anytime you get anyone down in the court like that, it’s not great, and it was just so unlucky. He’s an incredible healer and a guy that’s going to do everything it takes to play the next one. That’s encouraging news.”
Booker led the team in points and assists, with an average of 25.4 PPG and 6.2 APG.
On top of that, Green (hamstring) was listed on GTD for precautionary reasons despite him coming back during the team’s road trip.
“Great news,” Ott said. “Jalen’s (Green) MRI, came back, nothing new. Great news for us. Did a workout today and we’ll see where he goes this week.”
Due to multiple key injuries and players on GTD, the focus changed to the role players.
Players on the Heat such as Jaime Jaquez Jr. or Tyler Herro, who were averaging 15+ PPG.
“He has great size,” Ott said regarding Jaquez Jr. “He’s an elite driver in the league, his ability to knock the defender off. You can try and brace all you want. They have great spacing; his ability to really take that first initial hit is a little bit different. We’ll put as much size as we can on him at times.”
As for the Suns, players such as Grayson Allen and Collin Gillespie would likely play more minutes, alongside a bigger shooting roll.
“That’s what we’ve done,” Ott said. “There was a little grieving process after the Atlanta game, and then you move forward. That’s what this game is about. There are 82 games, it’s never going to be perfect.”
Both players were averaging at least 13+ PPG.
The biggest battle was going to be in the center department, as Bam Adebayo of the Heat and Mark Williams of the Suns had both been efficient in rebounding.
“I think he’s the most versatile defender in the league,” Spoelstra said regarding Adebayo. “He has shown exceptional ability to defend any coverage. But in addition, you have to have guys that can handle the switch.”
Adebayo averaged 9.7 RPG, while Williams averaged 8.2 RPG.
“We’re going to need all of our bigs,” Ott said. “Tonight’s another interesting one. Bam (Adebayo) took 10 three-pointers last night. That’s another interesting equation. We’ll see whatever the game presents tonight.”
Before the game, however, the Suns ruled out Green from the game.
As for Miami, Powell and Wiggins were good to go for the Heat, but surprisingly, Herro was ruled out with a rib injury.
Herro had been averaging 21.9 PPG prior to the game.
Late in the first quarter, Oso Ighodaro drove into the lane and was fouled by Myron Gardner.
The referees went to see if enough contact was made for a possible flagrant foul.
In the end, the referees deemed there wasn’t enough contact for flagrant foul.
After a foul called on Gillespie late in the first, the fans heckled, before a “Ref, you suck!” chant broke out.
After the first quarter, Miami had a 32-21 lead.
“It’s hard,” Ott said. “You’re just looking for a gap to then get into the paint, to then spray out. We just weren’t able to crack that gap, so we’ll take a look.”
Despite the score, it was flattering, as Phoenix had picked up 10 fouls as a team in the first quarter alone.
Miami capitalized, going 11-for-14 when shooting free-throws.
Another problem was second chance buckets, as Miami had nine points off of that, while the Suns had none.
“Their ability to switch really affected us,” Ott said. “We tried to get on the glass, weren’t able to convert those-yeah, obviously missed them but, we’ve been there a couple games before.”
Dillon Brooks led the Suns in scoring, with seven points.
As for the Heat, Adebayo had nine points, while Powell followed behind him with eight points.
The Suns started off the second quarter hot, hitting shots and crashing the boards on defense, helping them cut the lead to four points, leading to Miami taking a timeout.
Midway through the second quarter, Wiggins was fouled by Brooks, but Phoenix challenged the call.
The call was deemed successful, and Phoenix got the ball.
Entering the second half, the Heat had another double-digit.
“I thought overall, our defense was pretty solid,” Ott said. “They do a great job of just driving the ball to the rim. We’d like to have a couple of those possessions back where they got to the rim, but overall, you’re holding them to 42%.”
Allen had 14 points for Phoenix, and Brooks followed with 13 points.
As for the Heat, Adebayo and Powell both had 13 points.
The biggest problem for both teams was their inability to connect from three. Phoenix was 2-for-19, and the Heat were 3-for-17 when shooting from downtown.
“It’s a game of inches,” Ott said. “We just weren’t able to convert our three-point looks. A couple of them go in; the spirit’s a little bit different. You’re just looking to try to get over the hump, and we just weren’t quite able to do it.”
Late in the third, after a late call on Brooks, the “Ref, you suck!” chants returned.
Entering the fourth, Miami led 82-77.
Brooks had hit 20 points, while Allen followed behind him with 17 points.
Williams was looking for a double-double, as he had eight rebounds and eight points.
As for the Heat, Wiggins already had a double-double, with 10 points and 10 rebounds.
Adebayo led the Heat in scoring with 17 points, while Powell trailed with 16 points.
Powell also had nine rebounds, one away from a double-double of his own.
Nikola Jovic played well for Miami coming off the bench, grabbing 12 points.
With seven minutes left, Miami had a 15-point lead and looked to close the game.
In the end, Miami never flinched, winning 111-102.
“You come off a road trip,” Ott said. “You got to be almost perfect, and we were in it. We were in it for a handful of spots and we just weren’t able to quite get over the hump.”
Brooks led the team in scoring with 26 points, while Allen followed with 18 points despite shooting 1-for-11 from beyond the arc.
Williams finished with 11 points but didn’t get a single rebound in the fourth quarter.
As for the Heat, Adebayo finished with 22 points.
Powell did finish with a double-double, as he finished with 10 rebounds alongside 16 points.
The Suns fall to 27-19 while the Heat jump to 25-22.
The Phoenix Suns meet the Brooklyn Nets at Mortgage Matchup Center on Tuesday.