What We Learned From Suns' Clutch Win vs Nuggets
PHOENIX -- The Phoenix Suns managed to steal an unexpected victory over the Denver Nuggets on the road Tuesday night.
The Suns led the game by as many as 22 points - which was fueled by an outburst from Grayson Allen, and eventually weathered the storm to secure a key victory over the perceived favorite in the Western Conference.
There are many positives and negatives that can be drawn from this game, but the positives eventually were enough to get the job done:
Fourth Quarter Woes Continue
The Suns have far and away been the worst fourth quarter team in the entire NBA this season.
A stat earlier in the season alluded to just how bad the Suns were in the fourth quarter - their net rating in the first three quarters put them at a near 60-win pace, and the fourth quarter net rating was bad enough to drop the overall win pace to the ballpark of 40.
The Suns were so poor offensively in this fourth quarter that they scored more points in overtime than in the entire 12-minute period beforehand.
This can't be overlooked even through a victory - the fourth quarter woes have been recurrent all season and should be concerning even with great shot making talent.
Suns' Stars Will be Tough to Match in Crunch Time
On the contrary, it will be extraordinarily difficult for teams in the West - save for perhaps the LA Clippers and Nuggets - to match the Suns in crunch time of playoff matchups.
Durant and Beal specifically took over the game after struggling for large portions of the second half - both proved exactly how dangerous the Suns can be in games that will be decided in the half-court.
The playoff game is obviously much different from the regular season and usually comes down to execution/shot making - Phoenix has three of the best in the business (Durant, Booker, Beal).
They also happen to have three sharpshooters in support in Allen, Gordon, and O'Neale to supplement the trio of stars.
The Suns are set up well to secure wins in down-to-the-wire scenarios in the grind of a seven game series.
Drew Eubanks Silences Critics - in the Interim
Drew Eubanks was perhaps the MVP of the win, playing admirably in spot minutes and OT following Nurkic's foul trouble/eventual disqualification from the contest.
Eubanks was a +1, got to the free-throw line on two separate occasions, grabbed eight boards, and blocked 2 shots.
It was just days ago when this site said the Eubanks experiment should end, but he was undoubtedly impactful on both ends against a very difficult matchup.
Eubanks' strong defensive performance is also a reflection of the tangible improvement Phoenix has shown on that end over the last two months. The Suns have been a top-10 defense over a solid sample over the past weeks - and it has largely been a team-based effort.
Everyone is on the same page, Kevin Durant is playing all-defense level basketball, and they have some of the best help defense in the association.
The Suns play next tomorrow night at home against the Toronto Raptors.
