Phoenix Suns

MEMPHIS, Tenn. -- Dillon Brooks scored 30 points and the Memphis Grizzlies beat the Phoenix Suns 122-114 on Friday night in a matchup of the NBA's top two ...

Houston rookie Jalen Green scored a career-high 33 points and had six 3-pointers. Horford scored 17 points with 10 rebounds for the Celtics, who had won 24 of 28 games before losing to Toronto on Monday night without four of their starters. The Clippers shot 60.9% from the floor and 23 of 43 from 3-point range in the highest-scoring game in franchise history. Ziaire Williams scored 19 points for Memphis and De'Anthony Melton added 17, including six straight free throws in the final 20 seconds. The Pacers lost their sixth straight game despite getting 30 points from Tyrese Haliburton before he fouled out early in the fourth quarter with Indiana trailing 103-101. OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) -- Killian Hayes scored a career-high 26 points and Frank Jackson also had 26 to lead Detroit over Oklahoma City in a matchup of teams near the bottom of the NBA standings. HOUSTON (AP) -- Harrison Barnes scored 25 points, and Sacramento beat Houston for the second time in three days. WASHINGTON (AP) -- Kristaps Porzingis had 24 points and nine rebounds in his first game against his former team, helping Washington defeat Dallas. SAN ANTONIO (AP) -- Devin Vassell had 22 points, Keldon Johnson added 21 points and San Antonio maintained its hold on 10th place in the Western Conference by defeating Portland. D'Angelo Russell added 24 points and Anthony Edwards scored half of his 18 points on a trio of clutch 3-pointers in the closing minutes to help the Wolves fend off Denver's comeback. BOSTON (AP) -- Jaylen Brown scored 32 points and Jayson Tatum had 31 to help Boston stop a rare late-season stumble and beat Indiana. MEMPHIS, Tenn. -- Dillon Brooks scored 30 points and the Memphis Grizzlies beat the Phoenix Suns 122-114 on Friday night in a matchup of the NBA's top two teams, extending their winning streak to seven.

Other teams still have playoff positioning - or actually making it to the playoffs - left to worry about but Phoenix will go into the playoffs as the number 1 ...

They have shored that up a bit in the past week or two, but that is always a concern. If they get beat by the Suns in the first round two years in a row, that will simply be the end of that. Rod: I think maybe Jae Crowder. Even before the season began, there were many fans talking about the Suns needing a “real” power forward and that it was a weakness for the team. They may be 21st in offensive rebounding but they’re also 2nd in defense and tied for 6th in fewest opponent’s points scored on fast breaks which can often come after missed FGs. If the Suns have one of their occasional bad shooting nights this could become a big problem though. He takes a lot of pressure off Booker and Paul and hurts teams when they double Booker. His change in play style to become more of a playmaker has been extremely helpful too. With Paul George back and Norman Powell and Kawhi Leonard also possibly back in time for the playin stage, I think LAC will win their initial game against the Wolves and take the 7th seed away from them. That could be a tough first round opponent as we saw in the WCF last season. Plus any of the five teams that may qualify are capable of winning a play in game or two. We are still the better team but they have Lebron James and he’s good enough where I’d say the Suns win in 6. Which team do you think will wind up with the 8th seed and how do you see that series ending? there may be a few draft prospects bemoaning the fact that there’s no possibility that they could be drafted by Phoenix. The biggest concerns for the Suns now are staying sharp and healthy as the final 9 days of the regular season play out.

A very shorthanded Memphis Grizzlies squad pulled off an unbelievable upset over the NBA-leading Phoenix Suns April 1 at the FedEx Forum.

From the opening tip, Brooks was following Booker everywhere he went on the court. Chris Paul and Devin Booker each played 32+ minutes in the game. Bench players Tyus Jones and Killian Tillie were also unavailable to compete in the game.

In the absence of Morant, Jackson Jr., Bane, Jones, and Adams let's look at who stepped up and grade their performance. NBA: Phoenix Suns at Memphis ...

The Grizzlies had absolutely nothing to gain by winning this game (and the Suns had nothing to lose, but they were healthy/all their stars played) but those are the times when Memphis steps up the most. He too was asked to step up into a role he is unfamiliar with as the starting point guard. At only 6’8’’ he is undersized for the backup center role he occupies but he just knows where to be and can move people inside to get in position to rebound. The physical back and forth between the guards came to a head in the third quarter when Brooks did what he does best and was able to bait Booker into a technical foul. We all knew with a long list of injuries coming into the night that Dillon Brooks had to have a big game and he did. Phoenix is having a historically great season and the Grizzlies were unfazed en route to their 55th win of the season.