Phoenix Suns: Jevon Carter was hot in win over Miami Heat

The Phoenix Suns beat the Miami Heat 119-112 in a game where fans should invoke maximum appreciation for Jevon Carter.

Kind of like Dory the fish when it comes to swimming, the Phoenix Suns just keep winning. On Saturday evening, they took down the depleted Miami Heat, and it was kind of awesome. The Suns remain the only undefeated team in the bubble and are now just 1/2 game back of the 9th place Portland Trail Blazers.

Quick shootout to Damian Lilliard for missing two free throws and a 3-pointer in the final minute to cough up a win to the LA Clippers bench. Much respect.

In the pregame post, I laid out five reasons why the Suns would beat the Heat. Number one was fairly obvious in that the Suns have Devin Booker and Miami does not. I’ve been known to be quite the predictor of things, but I don’t need my own psychic storefront to claim some Nostradamus foresight there.

Booker went off and had 35 points and yet somehow managed to miss all of his seven 3-point attempts. To be fair, a few of his buckets came with a toe on the line, but his deep ball was off all game long.

Jevon Carter is the reason the Phoenix Suns beat the Miami Heat.

For now, though, let’s not focus on the most talked about player on the Phoenix Suns. Let’s shave our head, pick up our intensity, and talk about the Bulldog, Jevon Carter.

Dude. Went. Off.

Carter has been incredibly consistent all season long with his tenacious defense and surprising ability to knock down shots. In the bubble, he has done both of these things to a degree, but against the Heat, he was maximum Jevon Carter.

The Bulldog must have had an extra helping of rocks for his pregame meal because he made six out of his eight 3s, on his way to a season-high 20 points.

The Suns needed every one of them too.

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It was an otherwise poor shooting night for the Suns because if you take away Carter’s performance, the Suns were a mere 6-24 from behind the arc, many of which were wide-open looks.

On top of his proficient shooting, Carter played his typical insane defense. He only came up one steal (a beautiful theft on Bam Adebayo), but he held the sharp-shooting Duncan Robinson in check, as Robinson only managed to sink four of his 12 3-point attempts.

Cam Payne has rightfully earned praise for his bubble play but on this night, Jevon Carter was the backup point guard deserving of all the accolades. No doubt the adoption rate of bulldogs spiked in Phoenix Saturday night as an ode to the fiercest competitor in the NBA.

Without him, it may have been a different outcome, but instead, the Phoenix Suns gave Devin Booker the longest winning streak of his career, five. The Suns still need some help to make the playoffs, but regardless of the outcome at the end of this experience, fans should appreciate this.

Because this is fun.