No, COVID Isn't an Excuse for Suns' Early Playoff Exit
Earlier this week, The Athletic reported six people on the Phoenix Suns (including one player who was not named) tested positive for COVID-19 either late in the Western Conference Semifinals or the day after the Game 7 loss to the Dallas Mavericks.
"One Phoenix assistant coach, Bryan Gates, tested positive after Game 6 and missed the final game, while at least some of the other Suns members indicated to colleagues they weren’t feeling well prior to Game 7," said the report.
The Suns (reportedly) did not hold end of season meetings in person due to the outbreak, rather doing them through Zoom.
It's a situation that's extremely unfortunate and raises questions from both sides of the court.
“I think it’s very clear that nobody wanted to report stuff,” said one source to The Athletic with knowledge of the Suns’ positive tests who was not authorized to speak publicly about them. “And this is where it gets dicey.”
“(COVID-19) was on everybody’s mind,” one Mavericks source close to the situation said.
Once the report came out, somewhat of a collective "Oh, so that's why the Suns dropped in play!" was said in Phoenix.
Not just by fans, but by media members too.
There's no downplaying how COVID can impact somebody, but to suggest the virus played a major role in Phoenix's playoff demise just doesn't compute.
From a player standpoint, only one tested positive after Game 7. Sure, this could mean that said player was feeling ill and had their performance impacted in the Suns' most important game of the season.
Yet since that player's identity will remain closed, we can only speculate on who it was. It could have been Chris Paul, or it could have been Elfrid Payton.
It's hard to buy that COVID truly impacted an entire team on the floor, or even Phoenix's biggest stars in Paul, Devin Booker and Deandre Ayton.
You know, the guys who didn't even make a field goal until 4:15 left in the first half?
Luka Doncic had as many points as the Suns did at halftime. Dallas' lead got up to as much as 46 points in the second half.
Doncic and teammate Spencer Dinwiddie (30 points) became the first duo of players to each have 30 points in a Game 7 since 2002, when Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O'Neal accomplish the feat in the Western Conference Finals.
Dallas shot 48.7% (19-39) from downtown. Game 7 was the first time all series where the Suns were outrebounded by the Mavericks.
Phoenix also became just the second team in NBA history to have 64 or more wins in the regular season and not reach the conference finals.
Most of the positive tests came with some on the staff as assistant coaches. Other positive tests are believed to be other staffers throughout the organization.
For a head coach, losing assistants (especially in a Game 7) can be conceded as a big deal. That point will stand.
Yet for a coach such as Monty Williams (who was just voted the NBA's Coach of the Year), the Suns had been out-played and out-coached since Game 2 of the series. Phoenix lost their four-of-five games in the series, and regardless of who else is present on the bench, a lot of blame should fall on the shoulders of Williams for not matching Jason Kidd's adjustments throughout the series.
And, to top it all off, the Suns didn't even report this to the league. They kept it quiet hoping and banking they would still be playing.
Unfortunately, COVID is still very much a real thing. Not just in the NBA, but in daily life for people such as you and I as well.
Yet when really looking at the circumstances, the reported outbreak simply wasn't enough to truly deter the Suns in that series. Phoenix's stars failing to show up and the lack of adjustments from the coaching staff did the Suns in far before Game 7 even started.
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