Join us as we review the highs and lows of the last week, as well as previewing the week ahead.
Week 13: 9-15 January 2023
Week Record: 1-2
Overall Record: 21-23. 10th in the Western Conference.
Games Played and Results:
W - 125 - 113 Vs Golden State Warriors
L - 97 - 126 Vs Denver Nuggets
L - 116 - 121 Vs Minnesota Timberwolves
I did not expect us to pick up the win against the Warriors, especially as we found out it'd be Steph's first game back from injury. The Warriors have struggled this season though and Curry clearly had some rust still to shake off.
The Suns played very well in this one, pulling out a 27 point lead in the 3rd quarter. Golden State did attempt a comeback, getting as close as 6 with a minute and a half remaining, but the Suns held on for the W.
Mikal led with 26, Lee had 22, Washington Jr added 21 and Dario had his best game of the season with 19 on 7 of 11 shooting.
A fantastic victory considering we were missing the following players:
Deandre Ayton
Chris Paul
Landry Shamet
Cam Payne
Devin Booker
Cam Johnson
Jae Crowder
Denver was never going to be easy, even at full strength and they completely pummelled us. After being tied at 6 apiece, they took the lead and never looked back. We had absolutely no answer for Jokic (does anyone though tbf?), who missed a triple-double by just 1 assist.
Top scorer for the Suns was Craig, with 16 on 6 of 6 shooting and Saben Lee debuted for us playing 15 minutes off the bench, scoring 8 points and assisting on 4 buckets.
Our final game of the week was against the Timberwolves and as I predicted, Edwards had a big scoring night with 31 and we struggled to keep up. Damion Lee tried with a career high 31 of his own, 21 of them coming in a brilliant 4th quarter for him, but it was too late. The best we could do was reduce the 20-point lead down to 5.
Ayton returned from injury in this one and to be honest played awfully. He shot 5 of 18 from the field and looked as though he'd decided to take a timeout on every defensive possession.
This loss will always be summed up this:
Superstar Watch (Season stats):
Booker (Out with Injury) - 27.1 Points, 4.6 Rebounds, 5.6 Assists, 0.9 Steal, 47.7 FG%, 37.0 3PT FG% & 2.4 Turnovers
Deandre Ayton (1 Game this Week) - 17.3 Points, 9.9 Rebounds, 2.1 Assists, 0.5 Steals, 0.7 Blocks, 58.1 FG%, 31.8 3PT FG% & 2.1 Turnovers
Chris Paul (Out with Injury) - 13.1 Points, 4.2 Rebounds, 8.3 Assists, 1.5 Steals, 42.5 FG%, 39.8 3PT FG% & 2.0 Turnovers
Scorching Suns:
Mikal Bridges
He had a bad game against Denver, but let's be honest the whole team did. With most of our keys players out, he was our number 1 option and did all he could, scoring 26 and 24 against the Warriors and T'Wolves respectively. He also got his team mates involved, while keeping his turnovers to a minimum.
His stats for the week:
19.0 Points, 6.0 Rebounds, 5.0 Assists, 1.3 Steals, 1 Block, 52.4 FG% & 45.5 3PT FG%.
Damion Lee
Lee said he circled the Warriors game and it certainly showed in his performance. He then went on to have a brilliant 4th quarter in the attempted comeback vs the T'Wolves. In that quarter alone he had 21 points, shooting 4/5 from 3 and 7/11 overall.
His stats for the week:
21.3 Points, 5.7 Rebounds, 3.3 Assists, 48.6 FG% & 53.3 3PT FG%.
Torrey Craig
His stats for the week:
12.3 Points, 9.0 Rebounds, 1.3 Assists, 1.0 Steal, 50.0 FG% & 60.0 3PT FG%.
Struggling Suns:
Deandre Ayton
I know he only played one game, but I can't ignore the terrible effort on the display in that lone game.
His stats for the week (1 Game):
11 Points, 11 Rebounds, 4 Assists, 27.8 FG% & 0.0 3PT FG% (1 Attempt).
Stat Line(s) of the Week:
Damion Lee vs Minnesota Timberwolves
As I wrote above Lee's 4th quarter was the highlight of this performance and his 31 here are a new career high.
Game stat line:
31 Points, 6 Rebounds, 2 Assists, 10/17 FGs (58.8%) & 6/7 3PT FGs (85.7%).
Honourable mentions:
Dario Saric vs Golden State Warriors
Dario had his best performance of the season, filling the stat sheet - we'll ignore the turnover column 😉
Game stat line:
19 Points, 9 Rebounds, 7 Assists, 1 Steal, 7/11 FGs (63.6%) & 3/5 3PT FGs (60.0%).
Torrey Craig vs Minnesota Timberwolves
Torrey's hot shooting unfortunately didn't lead to a win.
Game stat line:
16 Points, 5 Rebounds, 6/6 FGs (100%) & 3/3 3PT FGs (100%).
Upcoming Games:
We have 4 games this week. Monday is on the road, ending a 4-game road trip & the remaining 3 are at home, kicking off a 5-game homestand.
The Grizzlies twice in one week! That could be painful.
They come into Monday's game boasting a 9-game win streak, the longest active streak in the NBA, and sit 2nd in the West (although with the same record as number 1 Denver). What is there to say that hasn't already been said? Ja is great, the team is well built and they all have a nasty competitive chip on their shoulders.
The Nets visit to kick off our homestand. Going into this one we would have had a few days to get rested up, so that should help our guys who've been injured, as well as the players who've taken on extra minutes recently. We may also have Cam Johnson back. More on that in our "Any Other Business" section.
The Nets recently lost Kevin Durant to injury, but they are still a very formidable team. Kyrie can light it up whenever he wants and is averaging 26 per game. Watanabe is having a break-out season and they recently got former Sun T.J Warren back from injury, to give them a scoring lift. He's averaged 10.5 points of 53% shooting in the 17 games he's played. With these factors, Simmons gets to focus on defence and setting up his team mates and it's all been working very well for them. They've only lost twice in their last 10 games.
The Pacers have been one of the surprise teams of the season, with soon-to-be All-Star Tyrese Haliburton leading them averaging a 20 and 10 double-double. He recently picked up a knee injury so will miss this game, but they still have some weapons. Back-up Chris Duarte can have scoring explosions and rookie Bennedict Mathurin is in the running for sixth man of the year, averaging 17 points per game.
This game could be our best chance for a win this week, as Indy will be on the second night of a back-to-back, after facing Denver. Our game will also mark their last game of a 4-game road trip.
Predictions:
Another difficult week ahead for the Suns. I think we'll only pick up 1 win and that'll be against the Pacers.
Predictions League:
Any Other Business:
Damion Lee
It's been a pretty eventful week for Damion Lee.
On Tuesday he returned to San Francisco to face his former team the Warriors. It was his first visit back to his former home arena, which meant he was able to collect the Championship ring he earned last season.
The NBA Champion then went on to have a historic game for a Suns player. Lee made 14 free throws off the bench, which is the most by a Suns player off the bench without a miss, in franchise history.
Another Lee
Shams Charania tweeted on Wednesday that the Suns had called up Saben Lee from the G-League Raptors and signed him to a 10-day contract.
Lee saw action against Denver and Minnesota, averaging 14 mins, 10 points, 2.5 rebounds, 3 assists and 71% from the field.
Johnson Returning Soon
In an article from Chris Haynes, which was mainly about Jae Crowder more on that below 👇, he confirmed Cam had been participating in team practises, which we already knew thanks to Duane Rankin and Kellan Olsen's great work, but he added that Cam "expects to make his return shortly after the Suns conclude their four-game road trip".
Jae Crowder
In the article quoted above Chris' main focus was on Jae Crowder, who has been away from the team all season. The article is Jae trying to give his side of the story, as he's quoted as saying he's "confused and hurt by my coaches didn't appreciate the things I brought to our team and organization. And this has nothing to do with financial or contract differences.". To me that confirms the rumours that Jae didn't want to move to a proposed bench role. The irony is that with Cam missing so much time, he would have got his wish to remain a starter.
Here's the article for you to make your own opinion:
Trade Rumours
Shams Charania appeared on 'The Rally' this week and claimed that the Suns have their eye on Hornets forward Jalen McDaniels. He's having a career year, but with the Hornets struggling, this could be a trade we may see.
If you're like me and don't know much about McDaniels, check out this article to get acquainted:
Cam Payne Honoured
Friday saw Murray State honour Cam, by retiring his jersey number. Members of the Suns took the time to accompany Cam for the occasion.
🚨 You can also use the code 'SUNSFANSUK' on The Throwback Store to receive a 10% discount on any order you make 🚨
Comments