Suns will continue to lose games if they keep doing this one thing

The Phoenix Suns' season hit its lowest point Monday, with the team sliding to a fourth straight defeat - at home no less - to an Orlando Magic outfit that were missing their best player in Paolo Banchero. Not that anybody told Franz Wagner, who showed why he was recently named Eastern Conference Player of the Week.

He finishing with 32 points and popped up with timely baskets whenever the Suns went on a run, to give the Magic what was their sixth straight victory. If there are any positives to take from this, it is that the Magic themselves lost five straight when Banchero went down with injury, and the hope is the Suns can turn the corner without Kevin Durant soon too.

They need to stop doing this one thing for that to happen though.

That would be starting a pair of rookies in Ryan Dunn and Oso Ighodaro - who despite both playing valiantly and having their moments - simply aren't ready to contribute as much as they're being asked to right now. The alternatives however aren't great, but it is on head coach Mike Budenholzer to figure that part out.

Dunn should be starting games - as he has already this season when Durant or Bradley Beal are out injured - although it was going a lot smoother when his 3-point shot was falling. In the loss to the Magic he was 1-of-4, and he did not look nearly as confident stepping into these efforts as he did a few short weeks ago. Where is this guy gone?

The numbers have fallen below league average as well, with Dunn now shooting 32.2 percent from deep. This inability to connect consistently from deep was part of the reason he fell in the draft, although we've seen enough to know his shot will return. The Suns just need Durant and Beal out there taking a lot of the pressure off Dunn in order for this to happen.

For Ighodaro, he's actually had a solid two-game stretch (although both were losses), and poured in a career high 12 points versus the Magic. This included a powerful dunk at the rim, and really he's done everything we hoped he would in seizing his opportunity with center Jusuf Nurkic out injured. Like Dunn though, this is too much, too soon.

Contrast this with Tristan da Silva of the Magic, another rookie who finished with three points, five rebounds and six assists in 26 minutes of action. A pedestrian box score - although that assist number is nice for a forward - but if you watched the game, you would have seen that he was involved in a lot of the good things the Magic did on the offensive end especially.

The reason for this? The Magic had Wagner carrying the team, while Jalen Suggs and Anthony Black also propped this group up. That meant that everything da Silva did was a welcome bonus, and he excelled in that role with not a ton of expectations. This is exactly how Dunn - and to a lesser extend Ighodaro - were playing when the team was fully healthy.

If you go back to that hot 8-1 start, Dunn was playing with a freedom we haven't seen recently offensively because there were zero expectations. Play hard on the other end and take whatever open looks come your way, that is an easy way to play basketball. With Durant and Beal gone though, look at how much more frequently Dunn is involved in any single offensive play.

The Suns now need him to produce, while the same is true of Ighodaro. Mason Plumlee is a solid backup and adequate starter, and it was Ighodaro who started alongside him for the first time this season. He did a lot right and has earned a spot in the rotation - but as long as he's being expected to play 32 minutes - there's only so far this team can go.

As for solutions, Josh Okogie might just be one. He's played extremely well recently - even outscoring Booker in two games on the road - although it is perhaps no surprise that Suns keep losing games when guys like Okogie and Dunn are leading the way. Really this team needs Durant and Beal back as soon as possible.