Suns Reset Mindset After Win vs Wizards
PHOENIX -- The Phoenix Suns aren't quite shining like they should be.
It's still early in the season and with plenty of new faces and pieces to the puzzle for coach Frank Vogel to assemble, there were some expectations of growing pains.
But not like this.
The Suns approached Sunday's matchup vs. Washington having lost their previous six-of-eight games. Health has been a major factor in Phoenix's slow start, though lack of defense, effort and overall poor play had perplexed fans that flock to the Footprint Center on a nightly basis.
Down by as much as 15 in the mid-stages of the third quarter to a very inferior Wizards team that had won just four games heading into the weekend, everyone from fans, media and the team itself felt uneasy.
The Suns eventually shook their poor form and clawed their way to a victory in what many viewed as an early-season "must-win" contest.
Vogel was proud of the team's response after losing to New York on Friday night.
“I think our defensive effort intensity was pretty good throughout the game and definitely heightened in the second half, but I thought our team responded to a poor performance against the Knicks, give them 139 points and this team scored 137 points just last game," he said following the win.
"Washington has a lot of fire power, despite their record and we knew they could do the same thing with us if we didn’t step up, so we had a much better performance on the defensive side of the ball.”
Devin Booker says the Suns simply couldn't allow homecourt advantage to slip away.
“You just have to keep coming in, keep working, keep talking to each other. Don’t get over frustrated about it but definitely feel it. You want to protect homecourt and New York came in here and kicked our ass on our homecourt," said Booker. "We were on our way to that after the first two quarters of tonight. We just have to get it together.”
Booker himself was on pace for by far one of his worst outings in recent memory before a strong final 12 minutes saw him finish with 27 points and eight assists.
“Kevin (Durant) started it in the third, but Devin and I talked at the timeout, and he had a tough first three quarters, but that was all behind us and it was time for him to take over; this is when he’s at his best and he came in and delivered a hell of a performance in the fourth, down the stretch," said Vogel.
“He’s an assassin. Even if things are not going his way, knowing no one ever really loses confidence in what he can do and we knew that was his time to take over the game. The great ones, they possess that; they possess that short-term memory when things haven’t gone their way, they know their game and can turn up when needed.”
Kevin Durant says it's a one-possession mentality for the Suns moving forward.
"Just keep putting in effort every possession. Take it a possession at a time. We were struggling to get wins and struggling to play well. It is just about knocking down every possession and being the best that you can be and hopefully it builds from there. It is a one-possession mindset for us going forward.”
Phoenix is back in action tomorrow against the Portland Trail Blazers.
