Big bench play leads the Suns to a 106-86 win vs the Heat.
I'm putting it straight out there - the Suns have the best bench in the NBA. No it's not full of flashy names or former all-stars, but it has shooting, creativity, high basketball IQ, effort & heart.
In the Suns victory over the Heat all of the above was on display. The bench combined for 65 points on 58% shooting. Cam Payne led the way with 14 points, 5 rebounds & 7 assists. Johnson added 15, Craig 14, Saric 13 and Carter had 9.
We needed all of this production, as Devin Booker and CP3 struggled throughout the night, only combining for 17 points on 6 of 23 shooting. Even Mikal Bridges had a rare off game, finishing with 0 points and only 1 rebound. The Heat are a very good and smart defensive team, with Jimmy Butler guarding Booker from the tip. Their game plan was clearly to limit the impact of these guys, to try and get the reserves and Ayton to try and beat them instead.
Speaking of DA, he had a great game. The big man had 19 points on 8 of 10 FGs, 13 rebounds, 1 assist, 2 steals and 1 block. The version of Deandre Ayton that we've been getting recently is exactly what this team needs, anchoring our defense, crashing the boards and rolling hard to the basket on the pick n roll. Our recent play can be attributed to his consistency, especially in the effort areas I've just mentioned.
The game started very sloppy with the Suns not able to knock down shots and the Heat built a 13 point lead in the 1st quarter. Unsurprisingly the Heat were playing tough defense, but Phoenix did not back down. Monty went to the bench when it was clear that the Starters were struggling, with only Ayton getting out to a strong start with 8 points and 3 rebounds in the opening period.
Phoenix found their way though, displaying tough defense of their own and finding a rhythm on offense. After breaking the tied game with 2 free throws from Payne, 3 and half minutes left in the 1st half, the Suns never trailed again.
As I previously noted Booker struggled in this one. Along with the shooting, which I'm sure he's kicking himself about, he had 6 turnovers and also had 4 fouls after about 5 minutes in to the 3rd quarter - to the bench he went.
This is when our bench guys truly took over, they extended the lead to blowout territory. Between Booker going to the bench and the starters coming back in to the game with around 7:50 minutes remaining, the second unit had taken the lead from 7 points all the way to 15.
Though Chris Paul had an off night on the offensive end, he had 3 steals in this one and for the 2nd game in a row, progressed up the NBA all-time steals list again, taking over Maurice Cheeks for 5th place - congrats CP3!
A hugely positive win for the Suns. I'm extremely happy to have Supeeeerrrr Dariooooo back, as he is huge for this team, especially as he's our only real backup big (sorry Frank). You've also got to love Cam Payne, he's such a huge spark off the bench for us. Cam Johnson seems to be back to his pre-covid ways and Carter is shooting the ball like it's last season again.
Next game is Thursday at home against the Sacramento Kings, where we look to add to this 3 game win streak.
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