Phoenix Suns conclude homestand with composed win vs. Hawks

PHOENIX — They all count the same, but some wins in the regular season feel bigger than others.

With the Phoenix Suns winning their fourth straight game on Saturday,  a 121-117 victory over the Atlanta Hawks, it was a win that held the weight of the previous three combined.

“I think tonight, to me at least, was the closest thing to a full game that we’ve put together,” guard Landry Shamet said.

While Atlanta is now 4-6 to start the year, it came to play. Their young star duo of Trae Young (31 points, 13 assists) and John Collins (26 points, 10 rebounds) performed and provided pushes in multiple sectors of the game to keep the Hawks pressing forward.

After a 13-7 early Suns (5-3) lead, Atlanta never trailed by more than five points through three quarters, with the majority of the baskets scored by either team making it a one-possession game or a tie score. There were 13 lead changes and the two sides were all squared up on an additional 20 occasions.

At an 86-84 Hawks advantage with under two minutes remaining in the third quarter, Young scored or assisted 10 of Atlanta’s next 12 points over a 12-2 run.

That put the Hawks up a dozen, but never fear, because the Point God was here.

Chris Paul went on his own floor general crusade of scoring or assisting points with 12 on a 14-8 spurt across the opening five minutes of the fourth quarter.

The crowd lit up off that, and even though the Hawks kept the edge up to seven with 4:15 to go, the Suns closed on a 15-4 flurry.

Your main focus should be on the whole four points scored for Atlanta in 4:15.

“Our fourth quarter defense, and the mindset going into the fourth quarter … the guys are just like, ‘One stop at a time,'” head coach Monty Williams said. “There was no panic, and that’s what we did. We ended up winning the fourth quarter 35-19.”

“We didn’t panic,” guard Devin Booker said. “That’s what I’m proud of most.”

Booker was the consistent presence to match Atlanta’s stars, scoring a season-high 38 points on 14-of-21 shooting.

Paul clocked in at a bonkers +26 in a four-point game, registering 16 points and 13 assists.

Deandre Ayton missed one game because of a right leg contusion, returned Thursday but then was a late add to the injury report on Saturday morning with the same issue forcing him out.

And for the second straight game Ayton’s missed, Frank Kaminsky contributed with stellar play off the bench. The reserve center shot 7-for-10 from the field for 17 points, six rebounds and four assists.

“It’s a point guard’s dream,” Paul said of his two-man game with Kaminsky. “He knows how to play the pocket.”

The Suns only shot 32.6% from three-point range, as those issues continued, but that was on 43 attempts, a vast improvement after failing to generate more than 32 in the last six straight games.

A few players mentioned the team’s pace being high, and Booker said he “loved it” at that speed.

Phoenix closes its five-game homestand on a 4-1 record, and it was a good time for that to happen.

Counting the Suns’ last two games, they’ll have only one or zero days between games for 14 straight. Monday’s trip to Sacramento kicks off a three-week period where Phoenix will play four games and a back-to-back in each week. Eight of them are on the road.

That’ll conclude 20 games in, a good spot a fourth of the way through the season to give us a true indication of where the team is at.

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