Memphis Grizzlies guards Tim Frazier (12) shooting ahead of Phoenix Suns center Deandre Ayton (22) in the first half of an NBA basketball game Monday, Jan. 18, 2021, in Memphis, Tenn. (Photo AP / Brandon Dill)
The Phoenix Suns will want to see a move develop and another decline after Monday’s 108-104 loss to the Memphis Grizzlies.
Deandre Ayton showed new attacks around the edge, taking out five tackles to be close to his seven total through the first 11 games. The Suns would love to see them continue.
Phoenix ‘s last three losses have now all been brutal: a loss of time on the Detroit Pistons, a wind blow at the hands of the Washington Wizards and a very attractive game on Monday. The Suns wish that would not continue.
Let’s start with the big fella.
When you think of “Dominayton,” you naturally first go to those games where Ayton has control. Posting 30 points and 20 repetitions. Nights like that.
But games like Monday are just as important as the ones because Ayton’s attack counteracts some of his shortcomings elsewhere.
Ayton has received most of the posts he has received in a game so far, to mixed results. That was in an effort to take advantage of the Grizzlies starting rookie in the second round pick of Xavier Tillman.
Ayton went for the jumper a bit, oftentimes as he moved away from the basket through his footwork.
One property in the third quarter, however, sent impressive waves through the Glen.
The highest levels of force that Ayton played with him are on the occasional possession of something we have never seen before. When Ayton moves and gets his feet down, he can rise and explode.
“That’s the way he has to play,” said Suns head coach Monty Williams. “He can do that every night … To play like that – they threw a number of defenses to him tonight and he was still playing with a lot of force. Hitting the ball, being aggressive at the edge – that’s how he has to play every night… It was awful tonight. ”
In the Wizards loss, Ayton had a famous play where he doubted and just took a midrange jersey despite being given a lot of space at the top of the key.
It was very different from how he took advantage of the Memphis front.
After a heavy wave of criticism over the week the Suns spent not playing, Ayton had 18 points, 16 rebounds, three assists, a block and three turns on a 7-of- shot. 14. The lost scenes get rid of his mind on some plays, adding up to one of his best games of the year. The Suns will completely take the inconsistencies through four quarters if those highs are still reached as they were on Monday.
“Imma continues to challenge him to be like that,” said Suns guard Chris Paul. “Everyone on our team is so hard on him because we know his potential. To be one of the greats in your league, you have to have consistency, and more is possible. ”
As for the loss, it’s time to put a rare one on Devin Booker.
He fired 5-of-21 from the field, missing three straight hits in emergency time and blowing a late defense assignment that would have almost made up for his poor performance.
That misbehavior left Grayson Allen, Memphis, a good hunter, alone in the corner at a tie-breaking game with less than a minute to go, a Williams play described as “a microcosm of the whole night. ”
Neither Booker nor Paul is able to steal a dirty game like Monday as part of the value in getting All-Stars over the regular season. The biggest shortcoming of the game in the second half was eight points and Phoenix went up three with 6:33 to go when Booker checked in.
The 24-year-old was on his way to closing the door on Memphis, scoring a bucket, supporting Cam Payne three and then setting up two open 3s out of the three possession at the Memphis. Suns. Both were missing, so instead of the Suns being up 10, it was four.
At a 98-96 lead with 2:15 to go, Booker was shot in and out, missed a dunk and then failed to turn a three-point mark.
Allen’s turn at the 1:09 mark made it the Grizzlies ’three-point advantage that they would ride out to win.
Booker has not played to the high standard he deserves to be maintained at almost every season.
He carried it, and I mean behavior the Suns in the darkest times. And even in games when he played badly, those losses weren’t always on him. It’s hard to see it like that out of sorts, clearly pushing in the first season and scratching up the basics that it almost doesn’t do.
Lastly, that’s 12 games into the season, but Booker has always been a rhythm-based player. That’s why we saw it at its best in the bubble. The Suns achieved peak consistency as a team and allowed it to thrive.
Even after Williams Cam Johnson substituted for Jae Crowder in the starting lineup on Monday, the offense has yet to click.
“I’m more concerned about what we do in the flow of our crime,” Williams said of Booker ‘s shooting on the night. “I don’t think we have limb movement and body movement. ”
The Suns had 30 assists (7-5), shot 45.5% and scored 15 three points. That sounds like a tough offensive night, but Phoenix failed to earn 30 points in any of the four quarters. The 18 turns didn’t help.
The offense is capable of detecting spurts of playing in the right way, as Williams said. The problem has been a steady flow. The Suns took the ball to Ayton too many times against the Grizzlies (7-6), taking them out of the offense. In a weird twist, the ability to scrape and make quick passes out of those appearances was very good, especially in the second half.
Williams referenced the Suns “finally” figuring out how to overcome the Grizzlies change, as the Suns are plagued by multiplayer and in-game tweaks.
“We just haven’t figured out how to play our style on a regular basis,” Williams said. “We see it as spurts, but we haven’t seen it for a long time.”
That’s where Paul has been a master of his entire career, playing the role of puppets to control a game. But other than his chemistry with Booker not getting there yet, he didn’t do with the team as a whole, either.
“I think that’s probably the part for me,” Paul said of the team’s insulting lack of rhythm. “It simply came to our notice then. Six turns, that shouldn’t be happening, but I have to make sure we get quality views down the field. ”
That is a turning point that Paul has only reached eight times in the last three seasons.
The bullet balance was more than his favorite, with Booker at 21, Ayton taking 14 and Paul scoring 13. That was a happy accident of sorts, though, if anything. .
Paul was still playing well for stretching, scoring 16 points with seven assists and three leads. Like Booker, however, he did not reach the All-NBA level we are used to seeing from him.
“It’s a process of feeling,” Williams said of Paul and Booker together. “From a coaching standpoint, I have to be both just them. I think sometimes Chris looks at everyone getting involved. He’s looking to contact DA, looking to get hold of Leabhar when all he has to do is play within the stream of our guilt. ”
After the Wizards ’COVID-19 revolution forced the Suns to postpone their other three games, the loss was Phoenix’s first game in a week. Williams said a few times which was a factor while also noting what they did wrong to lose the game.
But to get back to trends, the all-season story for the Suns has been offensively ineffective enough to be bad enough some nights to put off their high energy and strong defensive achievements.
This could very easily be a 10-2 basketball team with even just a pinch of more offensive gusto, but they don’t have that right now. They had to find it before losses could continue. No, and now they’ve dropped three out of four in tough fashion.