PHOENIX—Incomplete.
For everyone involved in the Phoenix Suns’ season-long grind, from management and staff to players, there will be an inescapable sense that something incomplete hangs over them as competitors.
A franchise-record 64-win year followed an NBA Finals appearance that legitimately set the standard in championship or bust.
This was the franchise’s best shot at a championship. Not only was it the best regular-season team in organization history, but there was none of Michael Jordan’s Chicago Bulls, Tim Duncan’s San Antonio Spurs, Kobe Bryant’s Los Angeles Lakers, Red Auerbach’s Boston Celtics or any another dynasty of all time. force on your way.
And yet, the Suns will still be chasing that first championship after a shock second-round exit to the Dallas Mavericks was sealed in Sunday’s 123-90 loss in Game 7.
“I know they didn’t want to play that way,” coach Monty Williams said. “We basically played the worst game of the season tonight.”
For veterans like Jae Crowder and Chris Paul, they’ve never seen a better opportunity for their own chase in an elusive ring. They most likely won’t do as well on this one.
“Not at all,” Paul said of the idea that this could be his last shot at a championship. “They said that last year. He probably said it in 2008. You play enough and you don’t win, every time you lose they’ll say it was your best chance, but I think for me (and) us it’s that we’ll be back next year.”
Who knows what the careers of Devin Booker, Mikal Bridges and Deandre Ayton have in store, if this was the closest they ever came from a championship-caliber team standpoint.
“Pretty much the same,” Booker said of how he feels compared to last year’s outing. “Below our target. Although last year we were a little closer, it hurts. As a team, we just have to be owners. You have to see this and use it as motivation just like we did with the Finals last year.”
And that it happens as it did on Sunday at home is embarrassing. He will be near or at the top of each leading figure’s legacy in their team positions until they outdo him. And it is better that they do.
There are roars coming from the fan base for accountability. They are guaranteed.
“I talked to them about the whole year that we’ve been hearing all the praise, winning all the games and setting records and all that stuff and we’ve been taking it,” Williams said. “Well, tonight, you have to accept it. That is part of masculinity. There are days when it doesn’t go your way and you have to stand there and show character and integrity and accept it. This is life.”
Whatever happened to this team in the postseason is unacceptable. It was the culmination of a playoff run in which the Suns completely lost who they are and how they play basketball. The biggest problem would be if they were clueless like us.
“Me. I’m the guy responsible for getting us ready,” Williams said when asked about the Suns’ losing form in recent weeks. for whatever reason. He’s always the one I have to look at.”
“I think that’s what Mont’ is at the end of the day,” Paul said of Williams taking ownership of it. “But he can’t take shots, he can’t play. They can come up with a game plan, but [Dallas] he just executed better than us.”
“I think we just went out and we didn’t have enough,” Paul added. “I think Mont’ said that’s up to him, but I think it’s up to me as a point guard, the team leader, to go out there and make sure we get the shots right and all of that. But that’s what it is.
Dallas’ tremendous defensive effort from Game 3 onward came to a head on Sunday, completely stifling the Suns’ fluid, rhythm-based offense. Phoenix’s obvious nerves didn’t help.
Booker, a player who nearly always scores within that offense, was pressing early in a game in a way he’d never rushed baskets in a big game before. Paul continued to look like a shell of himself for the fifth straight game. Ayton’s problems with aggression and decisiveness persisted.
Meanwhile, Dallas was fearless and relentless in the way we’ve come to expect from this Suns group. It was a tremendous effort overall for a deserving series winner.
Phoenix’s problems became immediately apparent just minutes into the game. The Mavericks could only capitalize on a season-low 17-point first quarter for Phoenix with a 10-point lead. Ayton, Booker and Paul did not have any field goals.
There would be no sense of despair or a fight shown despite the 12 minutes that clearly indicated the Suns’ season would be over if they didn’t get back to reality.
Dallas’ lead increased to 30 at halftime. Luka Doncic’s 27 of 35 total points matched the Suns’ total as a full team. Phoenix was booed from the ground.
No one was stepping up and no one was playing anywhere near a tolerable level.
There are also no signs of life outside of halftime. The deficit grew to 46 and the Suns didn’t even cut it in the 20s or lead the game overall.
Booker went 3-for-14 for 11 points, three rebounds, two assists and four turnovers in 37 minutes. Nine of his points came in the third quarter when the game was over. Dallas kept catching him and Paul’s problems allowed the Mavericks to get away with it, and Booker didn’t respond well to that anyway.
“They followed their game plan,” Booker said. “They did a good job getting the ball out of my hands and catching every action I was in. I’ve always said that I’m not the person who’s going to go out there and try to shoot eight people. I’m going to try to make the right play and it wasn’t always the right play.”
Paul scored seven of his 10 points in the fourth quarter and added four assists. He hasn’t been looking good for most of the series and ESPN’s Marc J. Spears reported after the game that it’s been a left quad injury bothering Paul.
Ayton only played 17 minutes. Williams took him out early in the third quarter after Ayton’s lack of energy continued and Ayton did not respond well to the start.
When asked if Ayton reached that number of minutes and didn’t log one in the fourth quarter, Williams said “that’s internal.”
Cam Johnson’s 12 points made him the leading scorer for Phoenix. As I said, no one competed anywhere within the range of what is expected of them.
Dallas’ Spencer Dinwiddie (30 points) and Jalen Brunson (24) stood by Doncic in looking as comfortable and paced as possible scoring on the dribble.
The NBA has a cutthroat aspect where things change much faster than you think. Contention windows will close unexpectedly.
Given the way Paul wore himself out in this series at the just-turned-37-year-old, it’s hard to imagine him reaching Point God level deep in the postseason again. His future with the team shouldn’t be up for debate, but his ability to play a role in making him might.
The Suns also have questions about the contract extension to answer, while a looming luxury tax bill looms over the entire process. Ayton is a restricted free agent. Johnson is eligible for an extension this summer as Bridges was the year before. He could also get a supermax contract extension for Booker.
For a team that made you feel confident in its abilities more than any other in franchise history, this Suns team is now fraught with uncertainty going forward.
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Source: arizonasports.com