I can’t wait for the sun to come home…
For much of the game against Cleveland, Monty Williams surely thought he and his troops would end the road trip on a high note. They were ahead for a good second quarter. Then, in the final quarter, the Suns missed shots and, above all, Donovan Mitchell and his teammates didn’t slow down.
Symbol of a struggling defense: Phoenix still leads by seven points with four minutes to go. The Cavaliers’ back passes to Isaac Okoro, who passes the ball back to him, the Torrey Craig-Landry Shamet duo doesn’t understand each other, giving him room for a 3-pointer. This is the start of the deadly 14-5.
“We forgot about Mitchell on the left, the bonus basket, and he was coming out with 71 points.” The coach for the Arizona Republic lamented. “He is a player you always have to watch out for. »
Even so, the Sun will have one last chance for an extension. With four seconds left, Chris Paul inbounds the ball and it goes to Mikal Bridges. He poses as a dribbler and shoots from half distance. Missed…
“I’m proud of his shot,” I said. Monty Williams explains. “Good shot. We get it every day. The match was not decided in this shot, but it was a good shot.” Chris Paul adds. “The coach trusted me and I tried to find a good position” Mikal concludes Bridges. “It just didn’t go in. »
“We will continue to work. Our mentality has been like this from the beginning.”
Although it didn’t win overtime for the Suns, the shot would have been good for Monty Williams’ troops. Having just recorded their fourth straight defeat, they end this ‘road trip’ with five defeats in six matches, with just one win in their last eight games…
Also, in Cleveland, Cameron Payne relapsed with a new right leg injury. After a nine-game hospital stay with the same leg, he was back in action in New York.
A loss to the wire, a new physical for Cam Payne, a negative dynamic, no Devin Booker… Bad news has been piling up in Phoenix lately, but Monty Williams remains positive.
“It was such a complicated road trip” The coach commented to ESPN. “It’s difficult to lose a match like this, it affects the guys because we should have won. We are waiting for the click. We are not broken. We will continue to work. Our mentality has been like this from the beginning. I tell the children: we continue. »
The 2021 finalists will now return to Arizona for two minor league games against Miami and Cleveland, making it four straight games: Golden State, Denver, Minnesota and Memphis.
| Shots | It bounces | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Players | GM | Minimum | Shots | 3 points | LF | Turn off | Def | Early | p.d | bp | Int | CT | party | Points |
| Devin Booker | 29 | 34.5 | 47.7 | 37.0 | 85.0 | 0.8 | 3.8 | 4.6 | 5.6 | 2.4 | 0.9 | 0.4 | 2.7 | 27.1 |
| Deandre Ayton | 34 | 29.1 | 60.5 | 36.8 | 73.1 | 2.9 | 6.6 | 9.4 | 1.9 | 2.1 | 0.5 | 0.8 | 2.9 | 17.5 |
| Mikal bridges | 38 | 36.1 | 46.2 | 39.8 | 89.1 | 1.0 | 3.5 | 4.5 | 3.1 | 1.2 | 1.1 | 0.9 | 2.3 | 15.6 |
| Cameron Johnson | 8 | 25.3 | 44.6 | 43.1 | 72.7 | 0.6 | 2.8 | 3.4 | 1.8 | 0.3 | 1.1 | 0.4 | 1.8 | 13.0 |
| Chris Paul | 24 | 31.5 | 41.5 | 38.2 | 79.3 | 0.5 | 3.8 | 4.3 | 8.7 | 2.1 | 1.5 | 0.3 | 2.4 | 12.9 |
| Cameron Payne | 27 | 24.5 | 41.6 | 38.4 | 77.6 | 0.3 | 2.0 | 2.3 | 5.4 | 1.9 | 0.9 | 0.2 | 2.1 | 12.5 |
| Landry Shamet | 26 | 19.8 | 39.4 | 38.6 | 91.2 | 0.3 | 1.2 | 1.5 | 2.0 | 1.0 | 0.6 | 0.2 | 1.4 | 9.3 |
| Damion Lee | 38 | 21.8 | 47.2 | 49.3 | 92.5 | 0.6 | 2.7 | 3.3 | 1.2 | 1.0 | 0.4 | 0.1 | 1.5 | 8.5 |
| Torrey Craig | 35 | 24.9 | 47.3 | 39.2 | 78.3 | 2.0 | 3.4 | 5.4 | 1.5 | 0.7 | 0.7 | 0.7 | 2.5 | 8.3 |
| Duane Washington, Jr. | 21 | 11.1 | 40.1 | 32.9 | 50.0 | 0.0 | 1.1 | 1.1 | 1.5 | 0.8 | 0.2 | 0.0 | 0.5 | 7.1 |
| Jock Landale | 32 | 14.2 | 51.4 | 20.5 | 81.7 | 1.6 | 2.3 | 3.9 | 0.8 | 0.8 | 0.2 | 0.6 | 1.8 | 6.5 |
| Josh Okogie | 33 | 11.6 | 40.7 | 24.0 | 70.6 | 1.4 | 1.5 | 2.9 | 1.1 | 0.7 | 0.6 | 0.4 | 1.4 | 4.4 |
| Job Wainright | 21 | 14.3 | 38.6 | 39.2 | 57.1 | 1.2 | 1.0 | 2.2 | 1.0 | 0.3 | 0.7 | 0.2 | 2.0 | 3.7 |
| Bismack Biyombo | 30 | 13.7 | 57.8 | 0.0 | 34.2 | 1.1 | 2.6 | 3.7 | 0.9 | 1.0 | 0.3 | 1.4 | 2.0 | 3.6 |
| Dario Saric | 20 | 10.6 | 33.8 | 31.3 | 85.7 | 0.8 | 1.9 | 2.7 | 1.0 | 0.6 | 0.2 | 0.1 | 1.3 | 3.5 |
