Shorthanded Suns hit wall offensively in loss to Nuggets

PHOENIX — The Phoenix Suns’ battle for two-plus months has been making baby steps. It’s nowhere near where they should be progress-wise but is their current reality a week away from the All-Star break. For now, that’s gotta happen to at least lock in postseason basketball before any bigger conversations on grand aspirations.

That’s why it’s hard to take much out of Saturday’s 122-105 loss to the Denver Nuggets on the second night of a back-to-back, besides shorthanded Phoenix showing a good enough amount of energy to hang around and make Denver earn it.

Devin Booker did not get a rest after halftime of Friday’s overtime win, ending up at 49 minutes, a number that loomed for Saturday. It was an unfortunate necessity. Kevin Durant (left ankle sprain) and Bradley Beal (left great toe soreness) were out again on Saturday, and so too was the hero of Friday’s win Grayson Allen (left knee soreness).

Outside of a few misses for Tyus Jones on floaters, the Suns had a great offensive start, generating 3s and making ’em. They got up 50 on the night, showing good signs of executing the gameplan. The issue was Denver beginning the game 14-for-18 from the floor to lead by 11 after nine minutes. Booker was seeing crowds everywhere when he had the ball or was about to get it.

This margin more or less held around that range until Denver got it to 17 by the end of the third quarter, with Phoenix hanging around thanks in part to nice contributions off the bench from Bol Bol, TyTy Washington Jr. and Damion Lee. But the Suns (26-26) could never put together a strong enough run to really put pressure on Denver (34-19), a trend that persisted till the end.

Channeling some same positive energy for how the Suns competed in this one, they did so without burning themselves too bad. The defense has gotta be much better, but again, that’s just where this team is going to be at, especially shorthanded. They won second-chance points 23-15 and points off turnovers 10-7, their kryptonite nearly every night.

“I thought the effort on the boards was tangible,” head coach Mike Budenholzer said. “You could feel our guys going and getting offensive rebounds, our guys going and getting defensive rebounds.”

Booker was 8-of-19 in 34 minutes for 24 points, seven rebounds, three assists and two turnovers. He was often put in positions where it was more down to the secondary assist coming from him, which is where you can point at some of Jones’ 10 assists to go with 15 points and zero turnovers. Jones tried to be aggressive scoring the ball and was but went 6-of-17.

This was the second straight productive stint in the rotation for Bol. He brings some desperately needed size to the wing rotation. While he’s often erratic, Bol is a legitimate weapon for Phoenix, specifically at home. The crowd adores him and he captivates everyone to the point where he’s a one-man spark plug for the building’s atmosphere. He ended up with 19 points, seven rebounds and four blocks in 33 minutes.

It has been a down year for Denver’s Jamal Murray. That version of him did not show up on Saturday. He made three quick 3s to begin the game and finished with 30 points (12-for-23). Suns rookie Ryan Dunn struggled in a way we’ve rarely seen with a premier assignment. He only played 13 minutes and Budenholzer said pregame that Dunn is still dealing with some discomfort in his left ankle. Dunn sprained it two weeks ago before tweaking it again on Wednesday.

Jokic missed two shots, going 11-of-13 for 26 points, 11 rebounds and nine assists in 29 minutes. The greatness that man is capable of even in a relative jog of a game like this should not go unnoticed.

The Nuggets have now won six straight, five coming without Russell Westbrook (left calf strain), who in many ways jolted their season back to life. They were also missing the on-fire Michael Porter Jr. (left hamstring tightness), owner of 28.8 points per game across the winning streak while shooting 62%. Peyton Watson (right knee sprain) was also out, the type of hyper-athletic wing that causes the Suns massive issues.

Budenholzer was hopeful Durant could play on Tuesday in Phoenix against Memphis, labeling the ankle issue as something not very serious at all. He did not go to those lengths for Beal, who got a “we’ll see” for his status. Allen’s been bothered by that knee for the past two seasons and it will occasionally pop up on the injury report.

Western Conference’s pecking order around Suns as All-Star break approaches

Denver came into the day ranked third in offense and 20th in defense. Interestingly, since Dec. 8 the Nuggets are 23-9, but those marks across that time are nearly identical. So, this has not been some dramatic turnaround after a blah start 20-plus games in. And Denver can be a direct example for the Suns to take from in how a below average defense can still be supported by a great offense if it is elite enough.

This surge from Denver now has them on pace to sit with Oklahoma City (42-9), Memphis (35-17) and Houston (32-20) in the top-4 in the West standings. That’s then two guaranteed playoff spots left up for grabs if that holds, a reasonable assumption. (In a brief side note, the Rockets have lost six straight, so keep an eye on them for the rest of the month.)

The trade deadline only further intensified how highly contested those spots will be.

The Los Angeles Lakers (31-19) have won 11 of their last 13 to rise above the clutter. Luka Doncic is set to make his debut on Monday, so the key will be how long it takes for Doncic and LeBron James to grow their dynamic while still being a capable enough team defensively to win through that. The safe bet is the unreal production Doncic and James bring on a nightly basis is enough of a buffer to at the very least stay in this top-six race, even after the Mark Williams trade was shockingly rescinded by L.A. on Saturday evening.

Minnesota (30-23) did not make a move but is getting prime Anthony Edwards right now. In his last 19 games, Edwards is at 32.3 PPG. Through injuries, they’ve been forced to play younger guys like Jaylen Clark, Rob Dillingham and Terrence Shannon Jr., which is exactly what Minnesota needed in its rotation. Clark, in particular, has had a very good week.

Without Kawhi Leonard, the Los Angeles Clippers (28-23) held a top-six spot. Since his permanent return, they were oddly 4-4 coming into Saturday. Another squad worth highlighting up until March to see where they stand.

And while the Dallas Mavericks (28-25) have some big-picture fit things to figure out with Anthony Davis at the 4 and a lack of on-ball creation beyond Kyrie Irving, those are problems that sprout in the postseason. They should win a lot of games in the meantime. In Davis’ Dallas debut, he was an absolute leviathan, with 26 points, 16 rebounds, seven assists and three blocks in 31 minutes before he tweaked his groin. The trade was horrible and will remain horrible but don’t forget that Davis is a top-tier player.

Ditto for Jimmy Butler with the Golden State Warriors (26-26). Expect him to go on an awesome tear over these last two months.

That feels like a good cut-off point for teams that deserve current consideration for the 6/7 line of the standings. It’s a total of nine before we get to the Suns.

Further down, De’Aaron Fox’s move out of Sacramento (25-26) figured to make the Kings much worse but they got back Zach LaVine in the three-team deal, who is having a fantastic year. In the early returns two games in, though, the Kings will require time to mesh. Ditto for San Antonio after picking up Fox, and it’s a steep climb from 22-28 even though they were able to acquire him for no one in the rotation.

And then there’s the Portland Trail Blazers, who can only be lightly crossed off if at all thanks to a 10-2 tear to suddenly be in the mix at 23-30.

That’s 13 teams. Maybe it’s not in the way we imagined it in the preseason when hyping up the West, with a few key contenders stuck in the log jam, but it’s met it for competitiveness.

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