The Phoenix Suns snapped their league worst losing streak last night. A victory feels good but what does the win mean for the team?
Their losing streak kept getting longer and longer, building up to a league worst 17 games. Last night, the Phoenix Suns fought it out and ended up with a win. It feels great to taste victory again and fans deserve it after sticking it out this long but it is more than just a win. What does the W mean for the team?
Let’s start with the obvious. It means that ugly streak is over and the league’s longest active losing streak has now been awarded to the Dallas Mavericks as they sit at 5 consecutive losses. The Suns are now fresh off a win, something only 14 of the other 29 teams can say right now. That’s a lot of stress off their shoulders, and if used right, positive momentum.
Phoenix Suns
There’s also a question mark at the end of the thought that the team doesn’t know how to close out games and that the team quits. Have they heard enough of all that noise and do they want to prove the critics wrong?
This season is all but over for them but they can build some respect back and make a good run to the finish line that would be very beneficial to the young players on the roster.
This was a “revenge” game for Tyler Johnson, as it’s the first time he’s played against the team that just traded him and in his old “house” at that. As weird as it must have felt playing on the visiting team in the arena that was home for so long, he smiled and celebrated with the win when the final buzzer sounded.
He had a good game too, making 50% of his shots and nailing 3 treys while putting up 18 points and 5 assists with only 1 turnover.
It means help for Devin Booker and Deandre Ayton, who severely frustrated and tired of losing, saw 5 other teammates score in double digits besides them. The rest of the team scored 90 points last night and that had to feel good as the two stars saw everyone around them get to work and show that drive that they need around them.
Troy Daniels and Jamal Crawford made 10 of 15 shots to score 30 points off the bench. Mikal Bridges dished out a career high 8 assists. The team overall got to the free throw line more times than their opponent.
It showed perseverance as they kept fighting all the way to the end. There were times near the end of the game that they allowed runs and made sloppy plays while the officiating was not helping them out at all. However, despite having many reasons to stop, they continued and they pushed into another gear that ultimately got them the W.
Another thing that was good to see was Ayton getting the ball in the clutch. He only got the ball in scoring position one single time in the fourth quarter which is not acceptable but Johnson, the new point guard on the team, found him under the basket to take the lead with 30.9 seconds to go.
Booker showed his leadership and crafty play by forcing a foul on Josh Richardson and making both clutch free throws to take the lead for good.
It means, hopefully, that after the Twitterverse going crazy yesterday on the potential of Igor Kokoskov getting fired if they lost, that he remains the head coach. It’s easy to place blame on him for this season but I feel he’s a good coach. Fans need to keep in mind that he’s a rookie head coach in the NBA and this isn’t the ideal roster.
With the right moves this summer will be able to get a lot more out of a much better roster next season. You don’t let a coach that’s won titles on any level go before a single season is up when there are clear upgrades and holes on his roster.
This win overall means a lot and if used the right way, the positive momentum it brings is going to put some fun in the rest of this season. Go Suns!