Suns

The Phoenix Suns blew a 14-point, first-half lead in Sunday's loss to the Utah Jazz as they dropped two in a row for only the third time this season.

They'll rise up for the good to great teams. Ayton's 23 looks nice, but only four came in the fourth. Paul is major on defense because he not only gets steals, but puts everyone in the right spots in real time. That's a no-no against the Jazz. Follow him on Twitter at @DuaneRankin. The Suns (49-12) probably top the Jazz for a seventh straight time Sunday if Paul is out there. Make that now four straight games Ayton has had single-digit rebounds. It's only natural to call upon your best player when things get sticky. Utah racked up 43 bench points. He can remind the Suns what to do during the timeouts in street clothes, but it's not the same as when Paul is in the game. After giving up 42-points in the third quarter of Friday's loss to New Orleans, Phoenix allowed 38 in the third quarter Sunday. The Jazz closed the quarter on a 16-3 run in the last 3½ minutes of the third to take a 94-89 lead into the fourth. Crowder tried to make a play for Booker, who had scored 13 of his 30 points in the fourth quarter, but threw the ball out of bounds.

Time to dial those expectations back if you were expecting smooth sailing for the Suns without Chris Paul (and, for the meantime, Cam Payne).

But Williams said their success with that type of inbounds play earlier in the game led to the thinking of going for a timeout. These are big moments for us, and I think later in the season and when it comes playoff time, all these moments are going to help us. Close game situations, learning how to close a quarter, controlling the pace, controlling the ball without Chris in the game if teams ever try to take him out when he comes back. … Everybody’s getting comfortable, everybody’s getting used to it and they’re trying to find ways to get me off the ball and not have to work so hard.” It was just too much of a bang-bang situation in less than four seconds for the Suns to properly execute. Mitchell was incredibly active, playing with an intensity that indicated he was sick of losing in Phoenix for the Jazz’s last three trips. Booker played 40 minutes, which is still too high for this stretch, but his workload was lightened slightly by Holiday’s presence in the rotation and more possessions of Crowder and Johnson bringing the ball up. Out of that break, the designed look for an on-the-move Jae Crowder 3 was contested so Crowder passed out of it directly to his left, where Booker stood. Johnson was trapped at half-court, which is the point where any chance of a solid look at a quick 3-pointer to avoid the Jazz fouling up three essentially ended. “I’m a veteran basketball player,” Crowder said of the play. Ultimately, Utah played slightly better, but not enough to make it a clear-cut case of who should win or be in control of the game. To rinse and repeat the theme from Friday, the wiggle room for a Paul-less Suns to come out with wins is cut off dramatically.

The Utah Jazz square off with the Phoenix Suns in tonight's contest. Here are odds, predictions and more for this matchup.

Still, the Jazz will enjoy a full complement of key players tonight. After that, it’s back to playoff competition against the Dallas Mavericks on March 7. The Jazz still can’t afford to underestimate them. The Jazz (37-22) will look to capitalize on the Suns’ misfortune. The Suns are +110 money line underdogs. Utah Jazz fans should be especially eager to catch tonight’s contest.

In the meantime, head coach Monty Williams and the Suns have been especially reliant on the wings – Mikal Bridges, Jae Crowder and Cam Johnson – to pick up some offensive slack, to complement the regular production of stars Devin Booker (28.3 points ...

New to the starting role, Johnson’s had two games of 5 assists and is averaging 3.7 over this stretch, up from his 1.7 during the season. The coolest aspect of the larger dose of wing initiation is just the pure nature of it. For reference, a 40% three-point shooter earns about 1.2 points per possession (PPP). Especially with Bridges and Johnson, wing initiation most often takes the form of off-ball activity, including cuts, kickouts to shooters, and even isolation scoring. To get even more into the weeds, let’s look at some on/off court data, courtesy of FantasyLabs, Each of these will be the individual on the court without Booker, Paul, and Payne, so situations where the wings are forced to initiate. Suns are 1-2 in the three games since coming back, which can essentially be chalked up to the point guard rotation of Chris Paul, Cam Payne, and Aaron Holiday playing only one of the possible combined nine over this stretch.

Update: Aaron Holiday is no longer on the injury report for the game. The Phoenix Suns are hosting the Utah Jazz in Arizona on Sunday afternoon, and for the ...

Before missing the playoffs for two straight seasons, they had made the NBA Finals five times in a row.CLICK HERE. They have been one of the best teams in the entire NBA, and Steph Curry is having an MVP-caliber year. As for the Jazz, they are the fourth seed in the west with a 37-22 in 59 games.

PHOENIX — It was a madhouse on Glenrosa Avenue in Phoenix Monday afternoon, as more than a thousand Phoenix Suns fans descended on Los Olivos Park to get ...