PHOENIX – The Phoenix Suns' progress over the last week made Wednesday's game with the surging Los Angeles Clippers an interesting test, one they weren't prepared for in a 131-122 loss.
The Clippers (21-12) won their 11th of their last 13 games, with Phoenix (18-16) delivering a strong first shot with that red-hot form that made the difference on the night. A 35-20 first quarter was an advantage that LA maintained through three quarters thanks to some ridiculous shooting in the first 36 minutes, 60% from the field and 15 three-pointers.
The celebrations got a little silly for a moment.
There were signs of life in a 40-point Suns third quarter, only to be nearly surpassed by the Clippers' 37 points. LA scored 27 of those points from either the foul line or 3 to tie at 16 before the fourth quarter, after the closest Phoenix got in the third frame was 15.
And then for the second game in a row, Bol Bol brought life into the game with his energy as a big man. He assisted on an Eric Gordon 3 on the short throw, hit his own 3 and put back his offensive rebound to put Phoenix up 13 with 7:43 left. Whenever Bol did something positive, it elicited one of the biggest audience reactions of the night. So three plays in a short amount of time resulted in Suns fans getting fully back into the game and exploding in a way that suggested the Clippers still had more work to do.
Bol remained at the 5 with 4:19 left and the Suns were down by eight minutes, although the run of play dictated that it was more a matter of whether the Suns generated enough stops. It was already in a strange mood for LA: “Oh, we thought this was over” combined with “Okay, the crowd is picking them up” combined with “Wait, are they shouting 'BOL BOL!'?” So who knows what would happen.
However, a similar result as before followed: the Clippers got a good look from three missed throws and a Suns turnover before Kawhi Leonard's free throws calmly put the Clippers back in the lead by 13. Even after another Phoenix putback, a powerful Leonard drive and James Harden step-back 3 were back-to-back daggers.
“For me it’s more about how we started the game defensively,” Suns head coach Frank Vogel said. “I don’t think we had the mentality necessary to guard an elite offense, a team with a lot of firepower. … They didn’t feel us in the first half.”
“We have to do a better job of starting games with a sense of urgency and just being ready to fight,” Suns guard Devin Booker said. “We fought an uphill battle the entire time. We showed in the second half what it looks like when we increase the energy and intensity.”
The Suns, without Kevin Durant (right hamstring soreness), again opted to stick with the same starting lineup as in Monday's win, with Chimezie Metu in his place. Given the encounter, this was a huge show of trust from the coaching staff.
Harden is a strong, big defender and the duo of Paul George and Leonard are huge wing teams who are lucky to have an ideal defender. Durant would likely be tasked with the Leonard matchup given his length and size, but there are still questions elsewhere.
And even with the idea of eschewing man-to-man defense with a switch-heavy system and gimmicks like a zone, Los Angeles will still encounter isolations as they were ranked No. 1 in the field on the night, according to NBA stats NBA for isolation frequency are. While Metu was solid defensively for the Suns, he wasn't tasked with much possession, and Wednesday's step up was defending a monster like Leonard. However, Metu only played 15 minutes and Keita Bates-Diop tried his best, covering Leonard or George for 21 minutes.
There's also the Grayson Allen part of this equation, and he became something of a target for Leonard in particular in the second half.
Until Beal plays more games, Allen was Phoenix's third-best player this year. The fifth starting spot at the start of the season was expected to rotate depending on the matchup, but Allen is so important to Phoenix's offensive success and contributes so much elsewhere that there is no other option to consider him. But Allen's on-ball defense can boast elite size or speed, a playoff hypothesis that hangs over his role and the decision Vogel may have to make in April. This was evident when both Harden and Russell Westbrook attacked him.
Phoenix started the game straight up without much substitution, and with Bradley Beal playing free safety in front of Terance Mann (a 20.3% 3-pointer this year), he was able to clog up some spaces like Jusuf Nurkic. This and the almost immediate doubles against Leonard were fine.
However, the Clippers did a great job playing off the ball, with Mann scoring 12 points in the first quarter and George adding 17. The errors occurred in containing George, who was released too often.
However, this was not the main problem. The problem was that the Suns let that sink in, losing their high energy levels and allowing them a great seven-minute start to take the wind out of their sails. LA was first with some 50:50 balls, but elsewhere there was a lack of intensity. The Clippers thought harder to secure the 15-point lead, and Phoenix didn't shift its mojo until it was too late.
LA used its usual hyper-aggressive strategy of attacking Booker in ball screens and did the same for Beal when he wasn't out there with Booker.
The Clippers are great at executing this, while the Suns tend to have a mixed bag. Aside from six turnovers, Booker did a great job and didn't have many opportunities in the first half. There was little room for error on these giveaways, and the windows in which he scored 19 of his 35 points in the third quarter didn't come until LA got rolling. His 11-of-15 shooting night, particularly in the second half, was the best Booker has seen in recent games.
Phoenix put up 101 points in the final three quarters and made 12 three-pointers in the second half to get there. Gordon had 16 points off the bench while Bol provided 14 points. Beal looked great, but like Booker on Monday, he just couldn't get shots to fall. He was 7 of 20 and scored 21 points with five rebounds, four assists, two steals and a block in 41 minutes.
Leonard didn't see the doubles all the time and was impossible to defend as he got going after a scoreless first game with 30 points, eight rebounds, three assists, two steals and two blocks. George found too much room all night with 33 points, a nod to the fact that the Suns' defensive rotations were fine but weren't nearly at the level they needed to be at to stop a team as talented as the Clippers to play so well. Harden, one of the NBA's best combinations of passing ability and court vision over the last decade, was able to pick this one apart fairly easily with 22 points and 11 assists.
That's a near-impossible trio for any defense to stop, both in personnel and execution, with the Suns really behind. Seeing George and Leonard back on this floor in those uniforms made me realize how great they should always be together. George was incredible in the 2021 Western Conference Finals against Phoenix, while Leonard was the difference maker in the first round against the Suns last year before getting injured. They are capable of reaching these heights again and could do so together if they finally stay healthy.
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