The Suns “Funky” Win on Holding Out Against the Sacramento Kings
Photo by Randall Benton/AP Photo
Everyone knows that the Sun’s team from last year is somewhat inside this year’s version of them. We have seen signs of it more and more during what is now a five-game winning streak after a 109-104 victory over the Sacramento Kings on Monday night.
Now, this is already painting a darker picture than this game deserves. For three quarters straight, the Suns played good basketball and were tremendous in the third. It’s a win for them and now they stand at 6-3.
But after going up 22 points with only a period left in the game, the Suns started to slow down and nearly lost the win to a team that had just played the night before.
“We just have to be better. I told our guys that. We feel kind of funky about a win like that. We’re not giving it back, we’ve got to learn from it”. ”
Photo by Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports
It was at the 5:29 mark when it became clear the Sun’s bench was spiraling and wasn’t going to stop a last-minute effort by the Kings’ top players that had cut the deficit down to 15. But just to clear the waters, the Kings didn’t look too good in the third quarter and their head coach Luke Walton didn’t either. He turned down multiple opportunities to call timeouts as an attempt to try and get his teams’ head in the game. The Kings couldn’t stop turning the ball over, getting up to 24 on the night for a ridiculous amount of points for the Suns. (38)
They recovered from that though, and Williams got his starters back up 13 with 4:51 remaining. But recovering is easier said than done. Williams made the smart move postgame and brought the group back in earlier, but at that point, he’s subbing them in cold. Unfortunately, his starters couldn’t get a rhythm back and it showed.
Except it’s a rare situation that a player on the bench can come off cold and be locked in on the court right away. It’s a very strong talent, one that even starter Devin Booker says he even struggles with sometimes.
“It doesn’t happen that often but it’s tough. It’s something started definitely aren’t used to”. ”
Photo by Rob Schumacher/Arizona Republic
Phoenix kept tripping over their own feet, however. Devin Booker’s drawn charge with just 1:12 left in to play overturned a transition bucket originally called an and-one opportunity that helped the Sun’s lead at five points alive. It was also one of the biggest plays of the game.
After Jae Crowder missed a good look from the corner, Booker fouled the Kings’ De’Aaron Fox with 35 seconds left in the game. But unfortunately, Fox missed both of his free throws, and everyone knows those free throws win games. The game was pretty much over from there, but Chris Paul was stripped of the ball with about 15 seconds left that led to a Kings transition basket with 9.7 seconds left.
The Kings finally had a brief moment of an opening after a tremendous effort. Fans could tell that the Kings were trotting on tired legs and then proceeded to turn the ball over. Which left Paul with shooting free throws that he had made with five seconds left.
The game ended with the score being 109-104 Suns victory. But the Sun’s head coach made it clear this victory was a ‘funky’ one and not one that they're necessarily hyped about. But just like any team, the Suns and the Kings are improving game by game.
Up next: the Suns’ play at home against the Portland Trail Blazers tomorrow at 8:00 PM
