3 realities the Spurs exposed about the Phoenix Suns

The Phoenix Suns are about to embark on a three game road trip, having suffered shock back-to-back losses to the San Antonio Spurs. Those losses drop the Suns to 2-3 on the still young season, and although there is plenty of time to make up ground, those losses weren’t part of the plan.

It is hard to tell which defeat was worse for the franchise. On Tuesday they led for all but 1.8 seconds of the game – the kicker there being that the Spurs took the lead for the first time with only 1.8 seconds to go. On Thursday, despite battling back well after a slow start, they were more comprehensively beaten behind Victor Wembanyama’s 38 point performance.

Hard as it already is to dissect those two games – both of which came at the Footprint Center – the Suns can learn a lot about what the Spurs exposed.

To have had Devin Booker back for that second game and to have still lost is concerning, although Kevin Durant continues to be excellent and is firmly in the MVP conversation. Bradley Beal is likely to come back at some point on the road trip, and only then will we get a clearer picture of where this team is at.

Some of the Suns’ role players have stepped up with Beal and Booker out, with Drew Eubanks looking feisty against the Spurs and Josh Okogie being one of the organization’s best performers overall since the regular season began. Like it or not though, this is what the Spurs exposed down in The Valley.

3. Slow starts

At one point in Tuesday’s game, the Suns were more than 20 points up over the Suns. The first half was going perfectly, with Durant looking fantastic and Eric Gordon and Grayson Allen going on to hit a tremendous nine 3-pointers combined.

The offensive engine was humming, so much so that Booker had no problem getting mic’d up by TNT to talk about when he hoped to be back on the court. Wembanyama looked like the rookie he is, and if you’d said then the Suns could win by 30, nobody would have batted an eyelid. Then in the second half the mood changed, and we all know how that would ended.

Even worse was Thursday’s game, where the Suns fell into a 13 point hole to start the game. It took almost four points for them to get on the board, with Durant bailing them out with a contested jump shot as he so often has. The Suns had chances, but failed to convert some straightforward looks.

The fact Booker was on the court for all of this is even worse, and although they at one point levelled the game before the Spurs pulled away, this was a needlessly bad way to start the game. The Spurs both exposed how easy it was to score on the Suns, and also how to keep them quiet if their stars aren’t hitting shots. All of this from a team that might not even make the play-in.

2. Inability to guard high-scoring players

Give the Spurs credit, Keldon Johnson and especially Devin Vassell are two players who have All-Star potential. But the way in which both of them had their way with the Suns on each night was concerning, but it proved what so many of us thought to be true. This group will struggle to get stops.

On Tuesday, Johnson went off for a game high 27 points, and stole the ball from Durant in what was the defining moment of the game. The Suns struggled to contain his quick pace and ability to score from all three areas of the court. Johnson knocked down four 3-pointers, and his ability to drive at the Suns’ bigs was a problem all night.

It was a similar story on Thursday, only this time it was Vassell’s turn to go at the Suns. He may well end up being the Most Improved Player this season – he’s certainly an early frontrunner – but again the Suns have to be able to contain a player of his ability if they want to win a championship. Every contender has at least one player who can do what Vassell does, and usually even better.

Wembanyana’s historic night certainly helped Vassell get off, his 17 points coming from going for 7-for-10 from the floor and a perfect 3-from-3 from deep. But even when he had the ball in his hands, Vassell was constantly a threat. Just like Johnson had been two nights previously. Imagine how much Jayson Tatum, Luka Doncic or Jamal Murray would have gone off in that scenario.

1. Struggles with fast-paced groups

On the surface, the Spurs don’t push the pace that much more than the Suns. At least that’s what the early season statistics say, with the Spurs ranking ninth (102.2) and the Suns 15th (101.4). But to watch the two games unfold was to see the Spurs appear much quicker to get into their offensive sets when they had the ball.

Tre Jones – who is lightening quick anyway – looked like he was running at 1.5 speed while the Suns players followed along in slow motion at times, and the ability of his team to hurt the Suns in transition was also evident. The Suns of last season that had Chris Paul at the helm were also a slow team, but their offensive execution was crisp in its execution.

Booker as the main point guard is going to take some getting used to, while Durant at 35-years-old doesn’t excel in an up-and-down game. Doing this is only going to tire him and the likes of Gordon out, whereas when he gets the ball in the areas that he likes, Durant can take his time and get up basically any shot that he wants to.

Young teams like the Spurs are going to have joy against the Suns, we’ve already seen that happen twice in three days. Right now young rosters like the Washington Wizards, Indiana Pacers and Charlotte Hornets rank in the top five in pace. The Suns should be beating all three, but the Spurs have shown that easy wins against rebuilding organizations will not be easy to come by.