Game 10: Sacramento Kings (5-4) @ Phoenix Suns (8-1) l Sunday l 6:00pm l AZFamily

[Maze]

Booker needs some time off.Refs even favored the Suns imo.Rarely do I feel that way.Definitely missed KD out there tonight.

[lilfishi22]

Tough tough L but I'm proud of the guys. They scrapped hard in the end of every possession but ultimately the other team made shots when it counted and we couldn't.

[Mulhollanddrive]

We're 10th in net rating in the West but equal 1st seed.

Reality is we're probably somewhere in the middle.

[SunsRback4Good]

Nobody had an answer for DeRozan he hit like 5-6 mid rangers in 4th/OT. Once I saw Derozan hitting those tough shots I knew our chances of hanging on to the lead was over. Still very proud of our team for fighting the whole game without KD and most of game missing Nurk. Also, Booker is due for a 40+ piece.

[KLEON]

Side effects of playing in the Olympics: KD injured and Booker looks tired

[Revived]

This is the problem with playing guys so many minutes. They wear down very quick.

Even if it means losing a few more games, Budenholzer needs to limit Booker, KD and Beal’s mins to less than 35 a game.

Utilize the fcking bench. Even if it means losing a few, that’s okay. At least that’s better than making it to the playoffs and our star players being exhausted and then getting humiliated in a sweep again.

[SunsRback4Good]

Side effects of playing in the Olympics: KD injured and Booker looks tired

Booker will likely never win championship but having an Olympic gold to his name is special.

[Mulhollanddrive]

5 games in 7 nights coming up too

Booker 2 airballs is a red flag he tends to do a hamstring or calf when overplayed

[SunsRback4Good]

This is the problem with playing guys so many minutes. They wear down very quick.

Even if it means losing a few more games, Budenholzer needs to limit Booker, KD and Beal’s mins to less than 35 a game.

Utilize the fcking bench. Even if it means losing a few, that’s okay. At least that’s better than making it to the playoffs and our star players being exhausted and then getting humiliated in a sweep again.

Feels like Bud is the new Thibs running our players into the ground with heavy minutes. Don’t understand why he can’t play Bol Bol considering KD is out and Nurk only played 15 minutes tonight. Bud is putting a ton of pressure on Plumlee when there’s no need for that. Okogie is more liked in his eyes over Bol is strange.

[lilfishi22]

We're 10th in net rating in the West but equal 1st seed.

Reality is we're probably somewhere in the middle.

We're probably closer to a 6-4 or even a 5-5 team than a 8-2 team based on our net rating. But credit where credit's due, we're not blowing anyone away but no one is doing that to us either and we're getting it done in the clutch. That counts for something.

[Mulhollanddrive]

We are only +21 for the season

2.5 games between 1st and 11th

[Revived]

This is the problem with playing guys so many minutes. They wear down very quick.

Even if it means losing a few more games, Budenholzer needs to limit Booker, KD and Beal’s mins to less than 35 a game.

Utilize the fcking bench. Even if it means losing a few, that’s okay. At least that’s better than making it to the playoffs and our star players being exhausted and then getting humiliated in a sweep again.

Feels like Bud is the new Thibs running our players into the ground with heavy minutes. Don’t understand why he can’t play Bol Bol considering KD is out and Nurk only played 15 minutes tonight. Bud is putting a ton of pressure on Plumlee when there’s no need for that. Okogie is more liked in his eyes over Bol is strange.

Vogel did the same thing so idk if this is a coaching issue or a players issue. I wonder if the Suns “star” players are chasing the stats and won’t accept a reduction in mins even if Budenholzer brings it up.

And in the NBA, the players run the league and decide everything so it’s not Bud could say or do much about it even if he’s the HC and decision maker.

[Revived]

Whether he’s injured or not, I would rest Booker next game and maybe even the one after. He needs time off.

[lilfishi22]

This is the problem with playing guys so many minutes. They wear down very quick.

Even if it means losing a few more games, Budenholzer needs to limit Booker, KD and Beal’s mins to less than 35 a game.

Utilize the fcking bench. Even if it means losing a few, that’s okay. At least that’s better than making it to the playoffs and our star players being exhausted and then getting humiliated in a sweep again.

Feels like Bud is the new Thibs running our players into the ground with heavy minutes. Don’t understand why he can’t play Bol Bol considering KD is out and Nurk only played 15 minutes tonight. Bud is putting a ton of pressure on Plumlee when there’s no need for that. Okogie is more liked in his eyes over Bol is strange.

Vogel did the same thing so idk if this is a coaching issue or a players issue. I wonder if the Suns “star” players are chasing the stats and won’t accept a reduction in mins even if Budenholzer brings it up.

And in the NBA, the players run the league and decide everything so it’s not Bud could say or do much about it even if he’s the HC and decision maker.

They've been in the league for a decade plus, they are on $50m+ contracts, they aren't chasing stats lol

[sunsbum]

We're 10th in net rating in the West but equal 1st seed.

Reality is we're probably somewhere in the middle.

We're probably closer to a 6-4 or even a 5-5 team than a 8-2 team based on our net rating. But credit where credit's due, we're not blowing anyone away but no one is doing that to us either and we're getting it done in the clutch. That counts for something.

Net rating is a dumb metric to judge a team by. We are 8-2. A 1 point win still ends up in the same column as a 40 point win.

[lilfishi22]

We're 10th in net rating in the West but equal 1st seed.

Reality is we're probably somewhere in the middle.

We're probably closer to a 6-4 or even a 5-5 team than a 8-2 team based on our net rating. But credit where credit's due, we're not blowing anyone away but no one is doing that to us either and we're getting it done in the clutch. That counts for something.

Net rating is a dumb metric to judge a team by. We are 8-2. A 1 point win still ends up in the same column as a 40 point win.

It's just one metric. Very few single metrics are good at telling someone what a team really is. But I think the point being made is that, despite having an 8-2 record, I don't think anyone is fooling themselves into thinking we're in the same echelon as other teams with similar records like OKC, Boston or GSW.

[grumpysaddle]

DeRozan and Fox killed us at the end. Not having Durant to close it out hurt, but it's good experience. Can't win them all, but we tried our best.

[SkyBill40]

This is the problem with playing guys so many minutes. They wear down very quick.

Even if it means losing a few more games, Budenholzer needs to limit Booker, KD and Beal’s mins to less than 35 a game.

Utilize the fcking bench. Even if it means losing a few, that’s okay. At least that’s better than making it to the playoffs and our star players being exhausted and then getting humiliated in a sweep again.

Suck ass loss. We had that and Booker had to play hero and blow it for us.

Bud is obviously another 8-9 deep guy and we're going to suffer for it.

Sent from my SM-F936U using RealGM mobile app

[Revived]

Feels like Bud is the new Thibs running our players into the ground with heavy minutes. Don’t understand why he can’t play Bol Bol considering KD is out and Nurk only played 15 minutes tonight. Bud is putting a ton of pressure on Plumlee when there’s no need for that. Okogie is more liked in his eyes over Bol is strange.

Vogel did the same thing so idk if this is a coaching issue or a players issue. I wonder if the Suns “star” players are chasing the stats and won’t accept a reduction in mins even if Budenholzer brings it up.

And in the NBA, the players run the league and decide everything so it’s not Bud could say or do much about it even if he’s the HC and decision maker.

They've been in the league for a decade plus, they are on $50m+ contracts, they aren't chasing stats lol

Eh, there’s guys like Carmelo who have made 4 or 5x that amount (career earnings near $300 million probably) and was still chasing stats and personal numbers till retiring.

I don’t think Beal is like that, he seems quick to sit out for any injury.

But Booker and KD play way too many mins regardless of coaches so it’s fair to assume that maybe it’s not the coaches deciding it and it’s the players.

[lilfishi22]

Vogel did the same thing so idk if this is a coaching issue or a players issue. I wonder if the Suns “star” players are chasing the stats and won’t accept a reduction in mins even if Budenholzer brings it up.

And in the NBA, the players run the league and decide everything so it’s not Bud could say or do much about it even if he’s the HC and decision maker.

They've been in the league for a decade plus, they are on $50m+ contracts, they aren't chasing stats lol

Eh, there’s guys like Carmelo who have made 4 or 5x that amount (career earnings near $300 million probably) and was still chasing stats and personal numbers till retiring.

I don’t think Beal is like that, he seems quick to sit out for any injury.

But Booker and KD play way too many mins regardless of coaches so it’s fair to assume that maybe it’s not the coaches deciding it and it’s the players.

I don't think it's fair to assume anything. It's pretty clear to me the vast majority of NBA players, regardless of the tier of player they are, will put up their hand to play in games because they want to have a positive impact on the game. Generally, the most talented player play a lot of minutes because they have an outsized impact on winning. KD is in MVP discussions because he's been huge for us going 8-1. I don't believe it's because he's chasing anything more than trying to win games for us. I also believe the coaching staff is leaving him in there for that long has collectively accepted some level of risk.

We all would love for KD to have played 30mpg, rested plenty and still go 8-1 but if he did play 30mpg and we're 4-5 instead, we'd all be calling for Bud's head.