The Phoenix Suns have returned to the comforts of home after a disappointing road trip that promised so much, but ended up providing so little. A 1-3 record on the road dropping them to 9-5 and fifth place in the Western Conference. Behind even the Los Angeles Lakers.
The franchise will have a chance to right the ship during their upcoming six game homestand - which will take them into December - and includes another meeting with the Lakers. An opponent who have already gotten the better of them once this season.
There's no way they'll top this insane stat the rest of the season though.
In the Suns' final road game - a 120-117 loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves - Julius Randle hit the buzzer-beater to break hearts in The Valley. He also finished with 35 points, by far his best output since landing in Minnesota, and in doing so overshadowed the 44 point elite performance of Devin Booker.
Prior to Randle hitting that shot though, the Timberwolves were there for the taking. There were multiple times leading up to that moment - including a failure to score off three straight offensive rebounds - when the Suns should have iced the game. Instead they had to look on in horror as Randle did this.
JULIUS RANDLE GAMES THE SUNS 🐺 pic.twitter.com/aCl5D5B6Ue
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) November 17, 2024
Which makes the following fact even harder to swallow if you're a Suns fan - the Timberwolves only led for a total of 15 seconds in that game. 15. Seconds. There is absolutely no way the Suns play another game all season long - and are either winning or tied for 47 minutes and 45 seconds of a game that doesn't go to overtime - and don't end up with the victory.
Yet that's exactly what happened here, and there's one player who obviously would have ensured that did not happen. Prior to being forced to sit out with a calf strain, Kevin Durant had been one of the best closers in the entire league. Still getting it done for his team, even at 36-years-old.
Yet with Durant not with the team and Bradley Beal on the sidelines with the same issue, the Suns were forced to let Jusuf Nurkic heave 3-pointers and tried to get another strong offensive game out of Josh Okogie. Both tried their best - Grayson Allen even chipped in with 18 points - but it is the main reason the Suns fell short.
It is just astonishing to think that they could be in command of a game for so long, yet not see it through. The starters outside of Booker combined for 26 points, while rookie Oso Ighodaro's 11 weren't just a luxury. They were desperately needed as the team tried to get back home having gone .500 on the road.
Maybe that's the silver lining in all of this. That this group won't be so unlucky as to lose a game from this position, even with two of their top three players missing. Then again, the fact the Suns even own this embarrassing statistic at all is proof that the amazing vibes around this organization to start the campaign are quickly vanishing.