Game 81: Phoenix Suns (47-33) @ Sacramento Kings (45-35) | Friday | 7:30PM

[Hitachi77]

Wish we could clean up turnovers. We had 15 less shots than them and only 2 more FTs. Hard to win that way but somehow did.

[Saberestar]

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[Revived]

That was a fun game to watch kinda but man Suns are such a terrible rebounding team anytime they needed a rebound. I felt bad cause the defense was actually good but many offensive rebounds in clutch moments were given up.

[sunsbg]

48-33 with one to go.

Last year we ended with a 45-37 record.

Expectations for this season were a lot higher though.

Over/under was 51.5 and I thought over is a very good bet but didn't take it to not jinx the team.

Expectations for last season were really high. We ended the season before with 64 wins and a 2nd round exit. We were considered contenders.

CP3 broke down though so nobody cares about those 64 wins and we were seen more like pretenders really. KD playing 8 rs games was never enough to build any chemistry. After Beal's trade a lot of people had Suns as favorites this season.

[sunsbg]

So if Pels beat Lakers we are better off losing to MIN as they stay in 2nd place this way. Otherwise Nuggets move to 2nd. Nuggets just lost 1st place to OKC with their choke job against Spurs.

[Revived]

Suns have won the same amount of games as we did in the Dragic/Bledsoe season in 2013 where we missed playoffs even despite winning 48 wins.

[Mr Puddles]

Suns win!

This board:

[Iceman36]

Man, just finished. First time this season, where I felt my heartbeat at the end.

But man, what a finale:
We squeezed out a win to keep our hopes of direct Playoffs alive. We have to beat Minny to get to 6., they have to win to stay on 2. Pelicans have to win to stay 6. and Lakers have to win to stay 8. and have two playin chances. All games starting at the same time. What a great setup!

Best case scenario:
We beat Minny, Lakers NOP. We get to 6.
OKC will stay on top, cause Mavs already gave away the game. Nuggets win against Grizzlies and move back on 2. Minny drop to 3. and will face us in the first round.

[Jdiddy701]

Nurk had such a crappy first half but played very well in the 4th quarter. Vogel putting Eubanks in under 5 minutes was just dumb. Beal was amazing in the 4th quarter. The most unpredictable team does it again.


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[Kyler Murray]

This team is so jekyll & hyde

[schnakenpopanz]

in terms of leadership and heart i am far more impressed with what beal is doing lately compared to durant/booker

[Stix]

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Definitely saving this for when he disappears in playoffs.

Spoiler:

no sh*t its time... avoiding the play-in.

[Revived]

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[bwgood77]

Beal needs to play MUCH better in the second half. 2 points and 2 TOs?? Book and Beal needs to step up or we are done tonight.

KD was hot, and no one else took many in the first half. I was surprised Book didn't take more, but Beal will step up when needed. He ended up ok on 9-13 shooting, or 70%, 9 boards, 4 assists, 2 steals and a block. He also seems to lately consistently be one of our better +/- guys on the court.

Beal has a lot better #s this season than at least 1 or 2 posters may realize, with a better 3pt% than KD or Book, as well as more steals. Equal with Book on 2pt% too.

He has 18/5/4 while allowing KD and Book take the spotlight on most nights as he is/was a bit more unselfish and focused on distributing and defense, etc. But steps up scoring when needed, like Paul and Nash did.

[Saberestar]

Beal needs to play MUCH better in the second half. 2 points and 2 TOs?? Book and Beal needs to step up or we are done tonight.

KD was hot, and no one else took many in the first half. I was surprised Book didn't take more, but Beal will step up when needed. He ended up ok on 9-13 shooting, or 70%, 9 boards, 4 assists, 2 steals and a block. He also seems to lately consistently be one of our better +/- guys on the court.

Beal has a lot better #s this season than at least 1 or 2 posters may realize, with a better 3pt% than KD or Book, as well as more steals. Equal with Book on 2pt% too.

He has 18/5/4 while allowing KD and Book take the spotlight on most nights as he is/was a bit more unselfish and focused on distributing and defense, etc. But steps up scoring when needed, like Paul and Nash did.

Yeah, like I said Beal needed to step up his game (and Book) in the 2nd half in order to win the game and he did it. He was amazing.

[Revived]

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Even Olson is turning on Vogel now which is interesting since he was going to bat for him earlier in the season.

It has to be frustrating for players not knowing who is going to play and who’s not and who’s going to start and who’s not. Shuffling around Grayson Allen, O’Neale, Thad Young, Bol Bol etc just makes it that much tougher for any of those players to really establish consistency.

Does Vogel himself have an actual idea on what the hell he’s doing? It’s crazy that playoffs start in less than a week and he’s still playing around with lineups.

And the fact that Bol Bol is out of the rotation after having played well is another dumb decision making from Vogel. Does he only like white bigs or something?

[Saberestar]

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[sunsbg]

More like top 12 defense since all star break based on statmuse.