The Phoenix Suns got a much-needed win against a reeling Sacramento Kings team, 114-103. The Suns, now 35-26 this season, are one win away from matching their season win total from last season at 36. They did it the same way they have done it all season, winning on the margins and as a team.
The Suns had six players score in double figures, hit 19 3-pointers, outrebounded Sacramento 53-40, and scored 32 points in transition. The Suns were generating wide-open looks all night, and even when shots were not going down, they were relentless on the offensive glass and forcing the Kings into turnovers in the middle two quarters of basketball. Even when Maxime Reynaud scored 22 points, Precious Achiuwa scored 18, and Russell Westbrook scored 16, with all going on their own stretches of high-level play to keep the Kings alive, the Suns stuck with their game plan and walked out of Sacramento with a series sweep over the Kings.
The Suns countered each of these Kings’ individual performances with standout performances as well. Collin Gillespie showcased his shooting, going 5-for-8 from three, grabbing six rebounds, and tossing out nine assists. Oso Ighodaro had a double-double at halftime and finished the game with 14 points and 14 rebounds, with eight coming on the offensive boards. Rookie forward Rasheer Fleming continued to reward head coach Jordan Ott with stellar play when he went on his own individual 8-0 run in the third quarter and continues to look more comfortable on an NBA court. He finished with a career high of 8 points and six rebounds in 15 minutes of play.
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While many of the Suns played well, Jalen Green needed his performance the most to get back on track after a dreadful month of February shooting from the field. He finished with a team-high 20 points and four steals. It was not all positive for Green, he had seven turnovers and one assist, but after a slow start in the first quarter, he was key to multiple Suns runs in the second and fourth quarters. The faster the Suns played, the more comfortable he looked driving to the basket and he found some semblance of a rhythm that he can hopefully take with him for the rest of the season.
Devin Booker’s first game back from injury was successful despite shooting 6-for-19 from the field and scoring 17 points; he made it through the game healthy and shook off the rust.
Game Flow
First Half
Collin Gillespie started the first quarter with a bang, knocking down back-to-back threes but the Kings controlled the first quarter with their defense. Jalen Green and Mark Williams both struggled largely in their first shift. Green drove on Russell Westbrook twice and got stripped twice, resulting in fastbreak layups on the other end for the Kings. Devin Booker stabilized the Suns’ offense, knocking down a corner 3-point shot and a midrange pull-up in his return to play. The Kings led 14-13 halfway through the quarter when the bench players checked into the game.
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That’s when the Malik Monk heater happened.
Monk scored 11 points on 3-for-3 from long distance. One of his threes was a desperation banked three as the shot clock expired, the typical Malik Monk heater experience. Outside of Gillespie and Booker, the Suns struggled to score and played sloppily despite getting decent looks and matchups. The Kings led 30-22 after the first quarter.
The second quarter started all Suns with an emphatic 19-2 run to begin the period. Allen started the quarter with a deep 3-point hit to set the tone, and the Suns exploded from there. The ball moved on offense, and most importantly, the Suns got stops and pushed the ball in transition creating some highlight plays. Green knocked down his first three of the game in transition and capitalized with an emphatic alley oop dunk for the and-1.
Oso Ighodaro got in on the action as well, as the Suns forced another stop where he capped off a beautiful sequence with an alley-oop dunk. He had a double-double at halftime. It was the best Jalen Green has looked since returning from his injury, and the Suns led 41-32.
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The Suns continued to score but could not get any stops as Precious Achiuwa dominated the Suns inside for 16 first-half points, and Westbrook hit multiple jumpers in a row to get the Kings back into the game and tie it at 48-48. For what felt like the first time all season, Booker was aggressive and confidence shooting behind the 3-point and hit not one, not two, but three pull-up 3-point jumpers to score 14 first half point points to give the Suns a 59-55 halftime lead. Hopefully, this is the month where the lid comes off the rim for Booker from long distance. Transition points were the difference in the first half, with Phoenix outscoring Sacramento 19-9.
Second Half
The back-and-forth continued in the third quarter, with Westbrook on his third 3-point shot of the game. Then Collin Gillespie and the Suns’ defense intensity and offensive flow took over the game. The game swung on one possession: despite O’Neale and Booker missing three wide-open 3-point shots, Gillespie battled for multiple offensive rebounds before knocking down a 3-point shot of his own. Then, after getting a stop, Gillespie hit another three in transition, and the proverbial dam broke.
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The Suns continued to force the Kings into bad shots and turnovers, resulting in back-to-back O’Neale bombs from three to give the Suns a decisive 76-63 lead on an 11-0 run. The Kings did not back down, though, getting back to within six, down 79-73, but this time it was Rasheer Fleming who knocked down back-to-back triples and threw down to give the Suns a 14-point lead on his personal 8-0 run.
The Suns dominated the rest of the quarter with their offensive rebounding, forcing turnovers, and shooting threes for a decisive 90-75 lead heading into the fourth quarter.
The Suns’ unit of Allen, Gillespie, Fleming, Ighodaro, and Ryan Dunn put the finishing touches on the Kings early in the fourth quarter. The Suns continued to flow offensively with precise movement and pace, resulting in open shots for Allen and Gillespie and open dunks at the rim for Ighodaro. When Green checked back into the game, he knocked down a 3-point shot and got to the rim as well. Ahead by as much as 20, the game was all but over until Ott checked Booker, O’Neale, and Williams back into the game, where turnovers and sloppy play from the Suns allowed the Kings to cut the Suns’ lead to 12, 108-96. The final nail in the coffin came on a Booker 3-point shot to put the Suns back up 112-96 with 3:10 left to end the game.
Up Next
The Suns return home to host the Chicago Bulls Thursday night at the Mortgage Matchup Center at 7 pm Arizona time.
