Game 71: Phoenix Suns (38-32) @ Oklahoma City Thunder (34-36) l Sunday l 12:30pm l BSAZ

[Maze]

called 30 FTA to SGA
he only got 19.
small victories

The last 2 weeks have been really depressing.I don't see what a guy like SGA does that's different than Booker, yet he goes to the line 20 times.Watching opposing stars vs this team is traumatizing.They all average 20 fta's against the Suns.Luka, Giannis, and now add SGA to the list.Embiid coming up in a few days

[BobbieL]

Putting a heavy load on KD's slight frame.

That trade took so much depth off the roster if you include saving money from Saric for Durant. The margins are pretty narrow

My concern all year was the back up PG and Payne continues to be up and down

I have zero idea why they took Warren in the trade - waste of a roster spot

should have tried for Goran . Payne just cannot be trusted

And Monty might want to learn what a Time out is

but sequences like getting the rebound, Payne saving to Craig, Craig makes a lazy pass, layup

Payne at the end of the third up 9 - gets too deep - turns it over and SGA got a three point play

and again the FT disparity

[Iceman36]

Man, I hate seeing Ish, Craig and Okogie constantly in crunchtime. Those guys don´t even make the S5 on most teams in the league.

I´m still pissed, we gave up so many!!! for just one injury prone player like KD. I loved our team and wished, we gave it one more shot with a small tweak at the trade deadline and then adress our PG issues in the offseason. CP3 is really done and has maybe only one bullet left this year. He has to be replaced soon. Our core of Book, DA, Mikal and CamJo was so nice and great for a lot of years to come.

Right now, I don´t even get excited when Suns play, because of the massive amount of dislike I have for this team...

[lilfishi22]

Didn't watch this one as I was in a deep slumber. Should I give it a miss?

[grumpysaddle]

Dude looks like a villain the Grizzlies should have hired him instead of the Hawks.

Is that a Cocaine Bear joke?

Not sure, I haven’t seen the movie yet.

Neither have I. Quinn Synder looks like he does a pound of coke before every game. And... a Grizzly is a bear.

[LV-Suns]

Didn't watch this one as I was in a deep slumber. Should I give it a miss?

If you have seen all the other double digit meltdown games, you probably seen the script to this one too.

[grumpysaddle]

Didn't watch this one as I was in a deep slumber. Should I give it a miss?

Suns certainly slept through most of the second half. I'd stay away. Team just sucked after the half outside of Booker, but he can't do it all.

[BobbieL]

Man, I hate seeing Ish, Craig and Okogie constantly in crunchtime. Those guys don´t even make the S5 on most teams in the league.

I´m still pissed, we gave up so many!!! for just one injury prone player like KD. I loved our team and wished, we gave it one more shot with a small tweak at the trade deadline and then adress our PG issues in the offseason. CP3 is really done and has maybe only one bullet left this year. He has to be replaced soon. Our core of Book, DA, Mikal and CamJo was so nice and great for a lot of years to come.

Right now, I don´t even get excited when Suns play, because of the massive amount of dislike I have for this team...

I totally agree. 100%. Its too late - Ishbia wanted to make a splash and he made an impulsive stupid decision

the Suns lost so much depth - if you count saric to save on the lux tax

I still wonder what Jae, Saric, Payne and a FRP could have got the team

And they traded for Durant when he was hurt.

[Maze]

Cam Payne should've been replaced last season.Guy has maybe 1-2 weeks of decent play per season.Him & Craig are mostly Suns momentum killers.

[Jdiddy701]

SGA had 19 free throw attempts. That is just wild.


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[grumpysaddle]

Man, I hate seeing Ish, Craig and Okogie constantly in crunchtime. Those guys don´t even make the S5 on most teams in the league.

I´m still pissed, we gave up so many!!! for just one injury prone player like KD. I loved our team and wished, we gave it one more shot with a small tweak at the trade deadline and then adress our PG issues in the offseason. CP3 is really done and has maybe only one bullet left this year. He has to be replaced soon. Our core of Book, DA, Mikal and CamJo was so nice and great for a lot of years to come.

Right now, I don´t even get excited when Suns play, because of the massive amount of dislike I have for this team...

I totally agree. 100%. Its too late - Ishbia wanted to make a splash and he made an impulsive stupid decision

the Suns lost so much depth - if you count saric to save on the lux tax

I still wonder what Jae, Saric, Payne and a FRP could have got the team

And they traded for Durant when he was hurt.

That trade package would have returned trash. KD literally fixes almost every hole when he comes back. Torrey Craig will get to go back to playing 10-15 mpg and his brain farts will be far less noticeable. Suns get bigger. Suns get the best closer in the NBA to put next to Booker. The ankle injury was a bummer, but it was a random, weird incident. Think about how many 10s of thousands of times Durant has done the exact same layup in warmups and was fine.

Now CP3 getting replaced would be fantastic. He'd actually make a decent backup at this point, but you need to trade his salary to get a viable replacement, and paying CP3 that much to be a backup would be absurd. I think they go for it this season and then figure out a CP3 replacement strategy in the off-season as well as shoring up the bench with more pieces that fit.

Then in 2026 when Durant expires and Bridges is looking for a new deal... who knows?

[grumpysaddle]

SGA had 19 free throw attempts. That is just wild.


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Booker had 8 and was being aggressive and probably had just as many drives to the basket. It's really gross what the NBA allows to happen. Someone needs to constantly remind them that Sarver is gone, it appears.

[BobbieL]

Cam Payne should've been replaced last season.Guy has maybe 1-2 weeks of decent play per season.Him & Craig are mostly Suns momentum killers.

It has been my biggest concern all season. And in the buyout market, my choices were
1) Reggie Jackson as I didn't trust Payne

2) Ross - if you think Payne can be a solid PG

And time and again, Cam Payne hurts the team. Jeez -- they should have signed Goran --
how many points from turnovers lost to points by OKC

[BobbieL]

Man, I hate seeing Ish, Craig and Okogie constantly in crunchtime. Those guys don´t even make the S5 on most teams in the league.

I´m still pissed, we gave up so many!!! for just one injury prone player like KD. I loved our team and wished, we gave it one more shot with a small tweak at the trade deadline and then adress our PG issues in the offseason. CP3 is really done and has maybe only one bullet left this year. He has to be replaced soon. Our core of Book, DA, Mikal and CamJo was so nice and great for a lot of years to come.

Right now, I don´t even get excited when Suns play, because of the massive amount of dislike I have for this team...

I totally agree. 100%. Its too late - Ishbia wanted to make a splash and he made an impulsive stupid decision

the Suns lost so much depth - if you count saric to save on the lux tax

I still wonder what Jae, Saric, Payne and a FRP could have got the team

And they traded for Durant when he was hurt.

That trade package would have returned trash. KD literally fixes almost every hole when he comes back. Torrey Craig will get to go back to playing 10-15 mpg and his brain farts will be far less noticeable. Suns get bigger. Suns get the best closer in the NBA to put next to Booker. The ankle injury was a bummer, but it was a random, weird incident. Think about how many 10s of thousands of times Durant has done the exact same layup in warmups and was fine.

Now CP3 getting replaced would be fantastic. He'd actually make a decent backup at this point, but you need to trade his salary to get a viable replacement, and paying CP3 that much to be a backup would be absurd. I think they go for it this season and then figure out a CP3 replacement strategy in the off-season as well as shoring up the bench with more pieces that fit.

Then in 2026 when Durant expires and Bridges is looking for a new deal... who knows?

I get it - I just want to make the damn playoffs as a top 6 seed. And a tough schedule left. Durant needs to show up maybe not Wednesday but next weekend

[SteveNashidis]

We need now a veteran PG. Tough loss and the next game with Lakers it will be like a playoff game.
I hope that our 5th guy will be Lee or Shamet at the crunch time. no more Ish

[BobbieL]

We need now a veteran PG. Tough loss and the next game with Lakers it will be like a playoff game.
I hope that our 5th guy will be Lee or Shamet at the crunch time. no more Ish

why did they take Warren
he doesn't play
Goran would have been better

[Ghost of Kleine]

A lot to still work on as I've said many times. But at least we had Biyombo and Landale to carry the frontcourt load in Ayton's absence huh? To show why we don't really need a player like Ayton and we can just prioritize cheaper options " by committee" strategy.......... right? Playing against a Thunder team with no discernible or dominant starting bigs (currently). And how did they do again??

Biyombo- 7 points/ 6 rebounds.
Landale- 5 points/ 3 rebounds.

So together they amassed maybe 12 points and 9 rebounds!!

This strategy should do wonders for us in the postseason against elite frontcourts for sure! Also got beat with points in the paint by 16 ( 54 - 38). It might be reasonable to be very selective with how we view Ayton's value to us for the rest of this season? But in fairness, maybe Biyombo and Landale will prove me wrong against Anthony Davis, Domatas Sabonis, Joel Embiid, Lauri Markannen/ Walker Kessler, Gobert/ KAT, Jokic etc coming up?

[sunskerr]

A lot to still work on as I've said many times. But at least we had Biyombo and Landale to carry the frontcourt load in Ayton's absence huh? To show why we don't really need a player like Ayton and we can just prioritize cheaperoptions " by committee" strategy.......... right? Playing against a Thunder team with no discernible or dominant starting bigs (currently). And how did they do again??

Biyombo- 7 points/ 6 rebounds.
Landale- 5 points/ 3 rebounds.
So together they amassed maybe 12 points and 9 rebounds!! This strategy should do wonders for us in the postseason against elite frontcourts for sure! Also got beat with points in the paint by 16 ( 54 - 38). It might be reasonable to be very selective with how we view Ayton's value to us for the rest of this season? But in fairness, maybe Biyombo and Landale will prove me wrong against Anthony Davis, Domatas Sabonis, Joel Embiid, Lauri Markannen/ Walker Kessler, Gobert/ KAT, Jokic etc coming up?

Ah yes because everybody who has posted about trading Ayton only ever proposes trading him one-for-one in a strict downgrade. Everybody who thinks about Ayton isn't interested in simply testing the market to see if he can be split into two players and has a grudge against him that they'd throw out the main principle of trading which is to maximize your return. And Ayton is truly an untouchable max player so we should never consider trading him at all.

I agree dude. Great stuff.

[Maze]

I fully expect Anthony Davis to get 20 FTA's next game against the Lake Show.I read a stat about the Lakers shooting +200 more FTA's than their opponent since that no call against Bron in Boston.Talk about a make up call lol.Even a guy like Austin Reaves has been averaging nearly 8 FTA's per game during that time.More than D Book I bet.

[lilfishi22]

A lot to still work on as I've said many times. But at least we had Biyombo and Landale to carry the frontcourt load in Ayton's absence huh? To show why we don't really need a player like Ayton and we can just prioritize cheaperoptions " by committee" strategy.......... right? Playing against a Thunder team with no discernible or dominant starting bigs (currently). And how did they do again??

Biyombo- 7 points/ 6 rebounds.
Landale- 5 points/ 3 rebounds.
So together they amassed maybe 12 points and 9 rebounds!! This strategy should do wonders for us in the postseason against elite frontcourts for sure! Also got beat with points in the paint by 16 ( 54 - 38). It might be reasonable to be very selective with how we view Ayton's value to us for the rest of this season? But in fairness, maybe Biyombo and Landale will prove me wrong against Anthony Davis, Domatas Sabonis, Joel Embiid, Lauri Markannen/ Walker Kessler, Gobert/ KAT, Jokic etc coming up?

That's basically DA's season average against OKC this season (13/9). Last season it was 12/10 and the season before it was 6/9.