Phoenix has an admission that is usually frowned upon.
“We have poor losers,” said Sun coach Monty Williams.
This mindset works well for him and the suns.
Looking forward to seeing how his team would react after Saturday’s surprise loss to Indiana to start a five-game homestand, Williams saw the Suns Rock Memphis, 122-99, in front of 3,188 fans at the Phoenix Suns Arena.
“When I was a kid, they called you a sore loser if you couldn’t handle it properly,” Williams continued. “We have quite a few people.”
All-Star Devin Booker hit a game high of 27 in 30 minutes when five Suns hit double digits and won the season against the Grizzlies (17-19).
“I always say this, you find me someone who can lose well, I’ll show you a loser,” said Chris Paul, Suns All-Star colleague. “We have a team of these guys right now. That’s why our practices are competitive. I’ve always seen that this is one of the main reasons I definitely wanted to play with Book. I know Jae Crowder, I know these guys, we compete no matter what it is, and so it should be. ”
Paul added 18 points and seven assists as Phoenix led by 28 points to 6-1 in their last seven games.
“It’s good to know that everyone is on the same page and everyone has a common goal of wanting to win,” said Booker. “So yeah, we’re sore losers. After the games, if we lose, you can feel it in the locker room, you can feel it in practice the next day. You can feel it in the movie. Nobody wants to lose at anything and that is everyone The coaching team, the players. ”
Jonas Valanciunas approached Memphis with 24 points and 17 rebounds, as the Grizzlies have now lost three times in a row.
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“We are concerned about the defense,” said Valanciunas. “That was a slip up over those couple of games.”
The Suns (26-12), who had between 122 and 111 on Sunday after losing to the Pacers on Saturday, now have two days between Memphis and Thursday’s game against Minnesota.
“There’s obviously a day to rest,” said Williams. “We had these protocols, tests a few times a day. We couldn’t practice. We met and went through things. It was different for everyone. We’ll try to rest and definitely try just before ours to have some good practice next game. We need to use the days to rest not only our legs but our minds as well. Spend time with our families and enjoy it. ”
Phoenix has only lost once in a row this season, having played three straight, with the first two going in overtime against Denver and the latter against Oklahoma City in January.
“When we got out before the game we said we don’t want to lose two in a row,” said Booker. “So that’s just the mindset of just reacting. When you have an off-game and you understand that there is room for improvement, you can never be comfortable.”
With the worst record in the NBA, the Timberwolves (9-30) play the Suns in back-to-back games.
Phoenix completes its homestand on Sunday against defending NBA champion Los Angeles Lakers. The Suns are 1-0 against the T-Wolves and Lakers.
In the win on Monday, Phoenix finished the first half with a 14-6 run and took the lead at 60-52 at half-time, as Booker had 16 points in the break.
“I thought their second session came in and gave them a big spark,” said Memphis manager Taylor Jenkins when Phoenix had 41 bank points. “They piled up a lot of easy buckets there. Our defenses just couldn’t catch up with them. They played at great speed and at great pace. They put us in some really difficult situations.
The Suns ended the third quarter up 32-15 and moved into round four at 96-77.
“We had an advantage early in the third half, but they just kept that wave of their offensive flow and we could make a comeback or something,” Jenkins continued. “Give the suns a lot of credit. They played great tonight.”
Phoenix shot 56.5% against the NBA’s ninth-best team in defensive scoring and received 15 points and nine rebounds from Deandre Ayton, while Jae Crowder, who started off Frank Kaminsky III, and Cameron Payne added 14 and 13, respectively.
The suns hit 12 out of 30 out of 3 and won with 23 points, although they allowed 62 color points. Phoenix is fourth in the league in the defensive standings and is now 11-0 if the teams score less than 100 points.
“They rave about you and are able to fan out to the 3-point line and take those blatant looks away,” Jenkins said as Memphis shot 5-of-23 from the depths.
Valanciunas had 11 of his 13 first-half points in the first quarter in 5-of-5. Grayson Allen had nine off the bench, Dillon Brooks eight in the half.
Ja Morant and Allen each scored 15 points for the game, while Brooks added 13.
Do you have an opinion on the current state of the sun? Reach Sun’s Insider Duane Rankin at [email protected] or contact him at 480-787-1240. Follow him on Twitter at @DuaneRankin.
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