Phoenix Suns are a mess in a December to forget in the valley

December is a holiday season for spreading cheers, but for Phoenix Suns fans, this month has been more of a misery. They are currently 4-8 this month, with two upcoming road games against the top 2 seeds in the West, the Denver Nuggets and Memphis Grizzlies. The losses might keep piling up.

The Suns haven’t been lucky in the health department this season. Chris Paul hasn’t found his stride after returning from injury, or maybe he’s just old now. Mikal Bridges is playing through a hyper-extended knee and hasn’t been playing well as a 2nd or 3rd option, and DeAndre Ayton is back to his usual passive self after having a good stretch of games in November.

Without Devin Booker and, to a lesser extent, Cameron Johnson, this Phoenix Suns team has been passive on offense. The bench plays harder but doesn’t have enough talent to help the team win.

Let’s break down this 4-8 month for Phoenix Suns.

They won by an average of 21 points in the four wins, but those are skewed by 38-point wins against the Spurs, a 26-point thrashing of the Lakers, and a 16-point win against the Clippers without Kawhi Leonard and Paul George.

The losses are where it gets a bit disappointing. They lost twice to the Houston Rockets (the worst team in the West), a 19 and 27-point beat down against the Mavericks and the Celtics, respectively, and it could have easily gone 3-9 if not for the historically great game that Booker had against the New Orleans Pelicans. Booker also suffered a groin injury after that game.

And now they just finished getting kicked off the floor by the Memphis Grizzlies, who led for 48 minutes and by as much as 34 points at one point in the game.

There have been too many one-sided games against good teams. This is supposed to be a veteran team that has continuity and chemistry, at the very least in the starting lineup, and so far, the starters are the ones that are always digging the holes.

The season is far from over but not even putting up decent games against teams they could possibly meet in the playoffs isn’t a good sign, either. The expectations aren’t as high this season, but the Suns still find ways to disappoint.