The Suns reminded where they are in their blowout loss to the Cavaliers

The Phoenix Suns entered Monday having won six of their last eight games, which doesn’t quite represent their overall level of play, but is perhaps enough positive momentum to build on and get back on track. way.

A matchup with the Eastern Conference-leading Cleveland Cavaliers was a strong indicator to see if they were indeed on to something, a notion quickly put to rest by a 118-92 loss.

It wasn’t quite the expected image to see the Suns face the best at full strength, since Cleveland (36-6) was without Evan Mobley (right calf sprain), Caris LeVert (wrist pain right) and Isaac Okoro (right shoulder). AC joint sprain). Outside of the Christmas win over the Denver Nuggets, we haven’t had a chance to see Phoenix (21-21) tested by some of the NBA’s best teams to their full capabilities since its skid really began. in mid-November. .

Nick Richards got the start for the Suns after a very impressive debut while Bradley Beal returned from a two-game hiatus, essentially putting the Suns at 100% since Jusuf Nurkic (returning to competition) is out of the lineup. rotation.

Strictly from an energy and execution standpoint on both ends, the first half was one of the Suns’ three best halves over the past two months. But they lacked ball screen coverage, turned it over too much and found themselves briefly blocked by a zone defense that capitalized on their lack of cohesion. Against a team as good as Cleveland, even shorthanded, that translated into a 13-point deficit.

The Suns had a handful of results like this last year and a few this season too so even with the mind-numbing issues mostly contained, they just aren’t good enough to beat good to great teams playing at a certain level. That suddenly made the second half interesting, a response that would either show some toughness or an acceptance to fold once Cleveland made an extra effort to put the game away.

Cleveland’s Max Strus scored consecutive 3-pointers, then following a turnover by Devin Booker while attempting to foul, the Cavaliers scored via an offensive rebound to take the lead to 19 in less than two minutes. It was a sequence that confirmed why the first half was so different.

Phoenix then went small, likely to try to solve some of the defensive issues, but that’s when the Suns were speeded up with bad giveaways, then quickly got up to seven offensive rebounds allowed over the course of the first six minutes of the third quarter only.

Booker and Kevin Durant then tried to get their individual scoring going like they did in Saturday’s win to get this win, but it was already too late and once again showed the style of play this team is moving towards turns in difficult moments after moving the ball. much more in the first half. Unless the Suns fell to bad shooting from Cleveland, this confirmed they were already finished.

After trailing by as many as 23, the Suns briefly got as close as 14 to exactly that number before the deficit fell, predictably, to 23 by the end of the quarter.

Phoenix’s star duo totaled six assists and nine turnovers. Booker made six of those turnovers, the first time this year he has exceeded five this season, according to Stathead.

The Cavaliers attempted 18 more shots and 20 more 3s. Phoenix took just three 3-pointers in the third quarter, another direct confirmation that this team (like last year) is quick to abandon the goals and objectives set by the coaching staff once adversity arises. The experience of watching stuff like this over the last year-plus has gone from frustrating to just plain annoying.

It was the kind of performance for Beal that can’t happen. It was hard to notice him on the ground. It doesn’t take a very documented report to interpret that he came back too soon from his sprained ankle and is playing despite his limitations instead of just getting back to 100%. It’s either that or he’s lost interest without much of the ball. Both are bad.

Richards was unable to follow up his stellar debut of 21 points and 11 rebounds, putting up four points and four rebounds in 22 minutes. These inconsistencies are to be expected for him, especially as a mid-season acquisition.

For Richards, the main thing to understand is that he’s going to provide the immediate benefits of the attributes Phoenix lacks, while the rest of his game will be an ongoing experiment for a guy playing on a team with competing aspirations for the first. time in his career.

Richards, prone to turnovers, made a few gaffes in this one. He was called for two moving screens, missed two passes in transition and ended up in the wrong spot on an out-of-bounds call that resulted in a giveaway. When Cleveland went to a zone early in the second quarter, it was a look that left open space in the middle of the field where a big playmaker can punish him, which is not in Richards’ game. He then picked up his third foul midway through the period, which left Phoenix small with Durant at the 5.

The biggest point of development for Richards for the remainder of the season will be the system’s versatility on defense. Despite as much criticism as Nurkic catches, he’s decent in this area, showing an ability to play at screen level or deeper while recovering. Richards is much more agile, so he has the speed for that, but it’s mostly a matter of basketball IQ. Cleveland was living in float territory and finding easy one pass turnovers for 3 seconds off ball screens, which would split Phoenix in the playoffs if they get there due to their consistently poor defense on the perimeter.

With Tristan Thompson as Cleveland’s backup center, the Suns barely used another 5. Mason Plumlee only got four reserve minutes and Oso Ighodaro didn’t get a look until garbage time.

Cavaliers guard Donovan Mitchell had 33 points, five assists and no turnovers.

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