Team basketball.
The Phoenix Suns (7-4) have been playing stellar team basketball to begin the 2019-2020 campaign. Coming into their November 18 match up with the Boston Celtics (10-2), seven different Suns players averaged 10+ point per game. They lead the NBA in assists per game (28.8) and true shooting percentage (59.3%) Their ability to share the ball has created wide open shots and an offense that flows. Add in the focus on slashing and cutting, and this team creates strain on a defense.
The next test is the challenging Week 5 of the NBA season, which shall be a busy one for the Suns. They kicked off 5 games in 7 nights with the final game of the home stand on Monday night. As a personal fan of The Ringer Network, most notably The Bill Simmons Podcast, I've looked forward to this match up since the season began. You see, Bill is quite the Boston enthusiast and, well, not so much a fan of the Suns. We discussed this on our Week 4 Recap, Week 5 Preview podcast...how Simmons' is still upset about the D Book 70 point performance at Boston in 2017. Regardless, a strong performance against Simmons' beloved Celts bodes well for some national recognition.
Phoenix and Boston fans have one thing in common: the love for Aron Baynes. Acquired on draft day with a 1st round pick (Ty Jerome) for a top-7 protected 2020 pick, Baynes' impact has been immediate and electric. The "sunOffical Aron Baynes Fan Club Twitter handle, @BaynesFanClub, notes that Baynes had the opportunity to join the 2,500 point club against his former team as he his 25 points shy of the feat. I highly recommend following this Twitter page...the stats they post are hysterical.
The Celtics too have been playing team basketball. The subtraction of the Kyrie ego and the addition of hard-nosed PG Kemba Walker has equated to a dangerous brand of team basketball. They are the only team in the NBA with four scorers with 18+ points per game. They might not have size, but they have athleticism and tenacity. On a balmy November evening in Phoenix, they displayed all of the above.
The Suns would be without starting PG Ricky Rubio, as he was a late scratch with back spasms. Enter 2nd year guard Jevon Carter..."C4" was we affectionately call him in my household. The first quarter would see the Celtics start 1-10 from the field, but the Suns didn't seize the opportunity as they shot 3-10 themselves. Although the pushed the lead to 7, the Celtics would end the 1st on an 8-0 run to lead by 4.
The defensive presence of the Celtics led to a strong 2nd. They had active hands and aggressively closed on shooters, making it difficult for the Suns to have any good looks. The team shot 39% as a team with only 10 assists. It was clear that their main distributor in Ricky Rubio was missed. Boston plain and simply out hustled the Suns in the first half, out rebounding the Suns 32-22 and winning the second chance point battle 10-0, and it was reflected by 15 point halftime deficit.
The struggles continued in the 3rd as former #3 overall pick Jayson Tatum began to heat up. Tatum scored 14 of his 26 in the quarter. The Suns came out with a 7-0 run, but mental errors, turnovers, and a foul on Tatum as be shot a corner 3 with 0.7 seconds left on the shot clock allowed Boston to shut down the push. It was 80-65 at the end of 3.
By the 4th it was clear the Suns did not have one more run in them. On one series they had two offensive rebounds...and three missed 3's. The lack of Rubio's presence was glaring. It slowed the offense down and allowed the hustling Celtics to close on shooters and disrupt shots/passes. The Suns ended the game with a total of 19 TO's, emptied the bench with 5:20 left in the game, and had a season low 85 points. The Celtics win 99-85.
Solar Flare of the Game
Ricky Rubio. No one played well in his absence. A well rested Suns team played a team on the second night of a back to back, and they were out played. Had Rubio played, I feel the night would have been much smoother. He sets the tone.
Solar Synopsis
The shots simply were not falling this evening. It felt as if Saric missed 12 in close lay up attempts. C'mon Dario...take a lesson from Aron Baynes and slam that chiz home! The 3 point shots weren't falling. The team averaged 13.6 made 3's per game coming into the night (at a 38% clip)...they shot 27.8%, making 10-36 from beyond the arc. Tyler Johnson had a -30 +/- and once again didn't look very good. He was forced to play more PG with Rubio out and had 6 points and 3 turnovers. When is Ty Jerome going to be back?
The W/L/W/L trend continued, as the Suns ended the home stand 3-3. They head on the road and play the Kings tomorrow evening.
I did learn on NBA Twitter how much Celts fans hate Enos Kanter. The really don't like the guy! My favorite Tweet of the night, following a travel: "Kanter can't travel to Toronto or in Phoenix." Classic.
One statistic they lead the league in unfortunately is personal fouls (25.0).