Maddening mistakes pile up again for Suns in loss to Pistons

PHOENIX — The Phoenix Suns’ ineptitude from last season has bled over into this year, changes be damned. New coach, new point guards, better depth, same issues.

A 133-125 loss to the Detroit Pistons on Saturday was a turnover-fest that was further aided by abysmal execution defensively, a harrowing sign of how the Suns could slide down the standings if Devin Booker (left groin soreness) misses more than just two games.

This was a maddening game to watch.

The Pistons’ athletic (Jaden Ivey) and big (Cade Cunningham) ball-handlers had zero problems touching the paint early across a terrible stretch of on-ball and pick-and-roll defense. This was not strictly a lack of effort, although you could argue the physical energy was not accompanied by an effort mentally to remain highly engaged to execute at the proper level. It was clinical right out of the gates and then came the turnovers on the other end.

The Suns were down 41-26 through a dozen minutes that Detroit scored 16 of those points off Phoenix’s seven turnovers. NBA Stats’ database goes back to the 1996-97 season, and the Suns never allowed that many over those 29 seasons.

For as much as buy-in appeared to be the primary issue plaguing the Suns last year, their activity defensively has dropped off a cliff since injuries started piling up a few weeks into the season. Phoenix went from an average defensive team, a level above expectations, to one of the NBA’s worst over the last 15-plus games, the primary fear of how this roster could fail. The group has to defend with an edge, especially against quick, long and strong rosters like Detroit’s. That was nowhere to be found on Saturday.

“I think it’s just our defensive mentality. … Making sure everybody’s on the same page and just being a little bit more aggressive with them. … But I don’t think we were as probably into their stuff as we needed to be, at least from the jump,” Bradley Beal said.

Phoenix was busting its ass to try and get back in this but putting itself in that position is proving too problematic. It shot 60% in the first half and was +11 at the free-throw line to cling to within five at halftime. Rookie Ryan Dunn provided game-changing defense to close, doing all the things no one else looked capable of.

Cunningham, a 6-foot-6 lead guard with some muscle on him, was back to flame-broiling Phoenix’s ball screen coverage in the third quarter. Whether it was a switch or going at the traditional pick-and-roll with center Jaden Duren, Cunningham got right back to business.

When Detroit went back up 12 less than five minutes into the third quarter, Suns head coach Mike Budenholzer called a timeout. As Kevin Durant walked by him on his way to the coaches huddle that happens out by the free-throw line, he pointed out what he saw as a mistake by Durant on defense. Durant kept the conversation going and went to sit on the bench, where Budenholzer would follow him and maintain the animated dialogue in the bench huddle before going back to the coaches huddle.

Those are the types of back-and-forth’s you rarely see in the middle of a game but happen regularly behind closed doors. It certainly never happened last season, a nod to the accountability Budenholzer brings more of. Budenholzer and Durant both spoke highly of each other afterward and Durant correctly pointed out how this was less of bickering and more of a constructive conversation.

Shortly after, a Detroit turnover allowed Beal to leak out, and on his dunk attempt, he was fouled by Cunningham in a good play on the ball. Beal missed the dunk attempt and hung on the rim before swinging back to let go. In that moment, he did not have his feet under him and nearly had a terrifying landing on his face. Thankfully, his body took the brunt of the impact before his chin appeared to make contact with the hardwood.

Beal scored on an angled layup somewhere in the family of a sky hook finish to get the Suns back within five, with the team maintaining the white-hot shooting at 66%.

But the turnovers persisted after Phoenix nearly got the Pistons lead down to one possession. Durant’s seventh late in the third quarter got Detroit up to 29 points off the Suns’ 15 turnovers with 2:19 left in the third period.

Detroit was still only up nine going into the fourth quarter because the Suns were still on fire at 61.8% shooting.

It felt like the Suns cut the deficit to five before failing to make it a one possession game at least a dozen times in the second half. They finally achieved that with over two minutes to go but then proceeded to let Malik Beasley, Detroit’s best and hottest shooter, get open from the corner for a 3.

Phoenix was then down four with 54 seconds remaining, and in a perfect summation of the night, got slightly detached enough from Cunningham for a 3 that was followed by Durant’s eighth turnover of the night.

Durant after Thursday’s loss highlighted his five turnovers a few times as the reason the Suns didn’t win and did the same on Saturday with eight.

“I gotta be better. I keep saying that. I just gotta be better and I will,” Durant said.

Even when asked about the immediate defensive woes before the turnovers started and after answering a question about those giveaways, he went right back to his own mistakes.

“It’s a tough way to start. … We gotta be better but I can’t compound the problem having eight turnovers,” Durant said, pointing out he thinks the Suns win if he only had two or three.

In all 14 games the Suns were without Booker last season, Durant played. As superstars do, he elevated his play in these contests. He shot 50.3% from the field, averaging 32.1 points, 6.5 rebounds, 5.4 assists and 4.1 turnovers per game. Beal in five appearances also had his numbers go up, posting 24.4 points, 3.0 rebounds, 6.2 assists and 3.4 turnovers per game while shooting 50.6%. Even with that in mind, the Suns were 6-8 in those games.

Durant scored a season-high 43 points in 39 minutes on 14-of-26 shooting while Beal added 26 on 11-of-20 with five assists and two turnovers.

Durant has said in the past that a good rhythm for him will usually yield a shot attempt total in the mid-to-high teens. The record of his most recent teams in the regular season when he scores 35-plus is evidence of that. After the Thunder were 70-30 in those games, the Warriors were 14-8 before the Nets were shockingly 14-14 and now Phoenix is 11-7.

That drop-off since Golden State is indicative of where his flow is at, and when he’s really pushing the agenda individually, that’s because his team is in trouble and direly needs to get bailed out.

A boiling point for in-person fans with Jusuf Nurkic’s mistakes arrived.

The Footprint Center fans have been sure to groan at some of the previous brainfarts this season but never with active in-the-moment anger in unison. On a missed Suns shot in the fourth quarter, Nurkic tipped out a rebound to a Pistons player with no one around him. Two possessions later, he successfully baited two defenders with a pump fake at the rim. This gave Nurkic a wide-open shot under the basket, only for him to kick it out (for a 3 that went in). The crowd was livid, with dozens reflexively standing up to lose it.

To Nurkic’s credit, he finished some shots around the rim late in the fourth quarter, but the whole point is that those don’t make up for the simple mistakes. He finished with 10 points, seven rebounds, six assists, two steals and zero turnovers.

Booker’s timeline is two games, meaning he is potentially in line to play on Christmas. Him playing would be a frightening case of déjà vu, as Booker’s last left groin injury forced him to sit for three games in December 2022 before returning on Christmas. He only played less than five minutes before re-aggravating it and missing 21 games.

Given his lengthy history of either a left groin or hamstring injury at this point in the season, this being the sixth out of his 10 for it to occur, extreme caution should be implemented. Budenholzer acknowledged the Suns are going about the rehab process with the extra awareness of that injury while at the same time noting they won’t overthink it.

To agree with that point and also type a strange sentence for any professional sports team, it’s a big moment for the training staff. If Booker is indeed 100% after just a few days and not at any higher risk to re-aggravate the groin, he should play. But if he does with an elevated chance to strain it and does again, the Suns would be in serious trouble this season.

The Western Conference is too good right now and would firmly put Phoenix in the play-in mix if he was to sit out an extended period. It could even get dicey enough to miss the play-in entirely depending on how the next handful of weeks go for the Los Angeles Lakers (16-12), Los Angeles Clippers (16-12), San Antonio Spurs (14-13) and Sacramento Kings (13-16). With the Kings sitting 12th right now, those four teams seem like the best bets to tail off before the standings race starts to really get serious after the All-Star break.

Grayson Allen exited the game in the late third quarter and did not return after taking a blow to the back of the head.

Cunningham ended up with 28 points and 13 assists while it was 20 points, eight rebounds and eight assists for Ivey. The Pistons were 19-for-39 (48.7%) from 3. Beal noted how going under screens hurt the Suns early, and to bounce off that, Detroit clearly found a rhythm because of the coverage.

Monday’s game in Denver suddenly got a whole lot more interesting. This felt like the type of deflating loss that can be at the root of starting a skid. We’ll see how the Suns respond to that nation.

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