The game wasn’t officially over.
The State Farm Arena was still 8:02 a.m., but considering that in the second of a tackle in Atlanta after an overtime win in Cleveland while completing a three-game road trip, Monty Williams, Phoenix was down 25 points took out the starters.
Yes. It was a wrap.
The Hawks broke the NBA’s fifth-rate defense by giving Phoenix the worst loss of the season and taking the winning streak in five games (135-103) on Wednesday night.
“We lost a tough game against good opponents,” said Suns coach Monty Williams. “You shot the devil out of the ball. We were a little tired. You got off to a really good start and we fought like the hell until I pulled the plug, but that’s the deal. Tonight is nothing really deep . We just played. ” We played hard and couldn’t take any shots when they presented themselves. ”
It’s the most points Phoenix has allowed this season.
“We felt like we worn them out in the second half and things opened up for us,” said Nate McMillan, Atlanta Hawks coach. “It was really a team effort. I thought the guys did a great job tonight to implement the game plan.”
After Phoenix (47-19) lost and Utah beat San Antonio (126-94) on Wednesday, the Suns fell a full game behind Jazz (48-18) for the top seed in the West.
The Suns have the tiebreaker over the Jazz, but four of the last six opponents in Utah are either .500 or worse, while four of Phoenix’s last six games against teams start with .500 or better records against New York on Friday in the Phoenix Suns Arena begin.
Phoenix then heads back to face defending NBA champions Los Angeles Lakers on Sunday and Golden State on Tuesday.
The schedule doesn’t get any easier, but Williams sees the other side of that equation.
“It won’t be easier for our opponents either,” said Williams. “That’s how we see it. You have to play against the Phoenix Suns and I’ll be putting my money into my team every day. I love my team. I love the guys in our locker room. Yeah, we ‘ve got a tough schedule, but everyone got a tough schedule and our boys will be ready to play in the next game. ”
When the Suns arrived in Atlanta at 2 a.m. on Tuesday after defeating the Cavaliers, they had COVID-19 tests done three hours before an afternoon meeting.
The teams dealt with it during the shortened regular season with 72 back-to-back games and three games in four days.
So Devin Booker is not trying to hear how those circumstances affected Wednesday’s defeat, despite the fact that this is Phoenix’s eighth straight season in the second half of the season.
“It comes down to it, it varies from person to person,” Booker said as he scored 30 points on the pitch while Mikal Bridges added 18 for the Suns.
“I’m young and blessed to be in this situation. I’m 24 years old so I look past it and try not to think about it because personally I think it’s more mental than anything but this season is difficult Seventy-two games this year and it can build up. We’re getting to the last stretch, but I think this is the most important stretch for us to play high-level basketball. Excuses aside. “
What the two-time all-star can admit is that Atlanta got it from start to finish.
The Hawks (37-30), the winners of their last three games, shot 63.1% off the field and hit 13 of 26 shots out of 3 against one of the best defenses in the league.
“It was tough,” said Booker. “You can have any excuse in the world, but you played good basketball and I don’t think we were ready to start.”
The Hawks clearly defeated the Suns in the second half with 68-36 after taking the lead with only two points (67-65) at half time. This came after the suns dropped a season high of 42 points in a single quarter when they fell back, 42-38 in the first.
“You took a lot of punches, we took a lot of punches, and you don’t want to play back and forth with a team that had two days to rest and we’re coming back from a back-to-game.” Booker added when Atlanta’s last game was Monday when it beat Portland.
With 74 bank points and 60 points in the suit, Atlanta has seven players in the double digits when it comes to spitting out its away streak with Phoenix.
Clint Capela went up and down with 18 points and 10 rebounds.
“In the last two games, our second session has done a good job for us,” said McMillan. “It was the second and fourth (quarter) last game and tonight again the second and fourth. The second session with Lou (Williams) and Kevin (Huerter) and (Danilo Gallinari), Solomon (Hill) and (Onyeka Okongwu), they broke it open again for us. ”
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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