The Phoenix Suns’ season came to an end on Tuesday night as they lost 109-104 to the Portland Trail Blazers, one of the lowest-tier teams. The fact that the Trail Blazers had only won seven games this season—due in large part to the contributions of two former Suns—Deandre Ayton (who played a game-high forty minutes) and lottery pick Toumani Camara, hurt even more.
Even worse, the Suns themselves lost, falling to 14-13, and they had little defense other than the absence of some of their greatest players during the game. Naturally, Bradley Beal was not present, and the most recent information regarding his anticipated return date for this group is not ideal.
The Suns nonetheless fielded Eric Gordon, Devin Booker, Grayson Allen, Jusuf Nurkic, and Kevin Durant for the contest. The nine-man rotation led by head coach Frank Vogel also includes players like Jordan Goodwin and Chimezie Metu, who have both recently had outstanding performances for the team and have stepped up when it mattered most.
But this wasn’t meant to be how things started off, not at all, in the season. It was always hoped that during the regular season, Booker would have an MVP-caliber run, with Durant filling in as the backup and possibly even letting Beal and Booker go to work and relying on him only when absolutely necessary.
The Suns have played more games (27) than Durant, Booker, and Beal combined have played minutes (24) in the regular season. Beal’s inability to stay on the court has already been extensively chronicled. In that small sample size, they might be a plus 15, but who really cares about that at this point?
