Suns' Season is Slipping Away

The Suns are looking less and less likely to sneak in the playoffs this season.

Feb 23, 2025; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Phoenix Suns guard Devin Booker (1) drives to the basket against the Toronto Raptors in the second half at Scotiabank Arena. Mandatory Credit: Dan Hamilton-Imagn Images | Dan Hamilton-Imagn Images

PHOENIX -- The sky is officially falling for the Phoenix Suns.

The Suns now sit at 27-30 following a 127-109 loss to the Toronto Raptors - a game that they trailed by 2 with under five minutes remaining.

The Suns' blunders this season are now fully catching up to them, as the team faces the toughest remaining schedule in the league - a slate that includes two games against the Boston Celtics, a singular game against the Oklahoma City Thunder and Cleveland Cavaliers, with many other playoff squads in between.

The Suns have to take every victory they can get at this point - and the loss to Toronto is another data point to signify that the season is slipping away.

Despite supposed roster upgrades, a coaching change, and an influx of youthful talent - it cannot be overstated how inexpicable this season has been.

Head coach Mike Budenholzer was honest about why the Suns lost - citing a 17-4 Raptors run at the end of the first half as a key point of inflection.

Per Duane Rankin of The Arizona Republic:

"There were some mental mistakes to finish the 2nd quarter, some lapses just finding shooters."

The general lack of awareness, communication, and drive on defense are supremely concerning this late in the season. The Suns are who they are.

One can say the bottom-tier defense can be attributed to roster build. Others will say it's due to a lack of passion - or other intangible factors.

The bottom line? It is absolutely inexcusable to allow Toronto to shoot 20-35 from three-point range with the Memphis Grizzlies' potent offense directly in the horizon.

Budenholzer's comments on Ryan Dunn and his lack of playing time recently were also somewhat eyebrow-raising.

"There's no doubt his individual ability defensively could have a positive impact for us on that end of the court," Budenholzer said.

Dunn has averaged just around 10 minutes per contest this month after seeing over 21 minutes of action in January - the indecisiveness surrounding the rookie is puzzling to say the least.

Budenholzer has to try to exhaust all options in an effort to try to turn the season around, but nothing has truly worked on a consistent basis, so it feels like playing the rookies more moving forward is the cleanest path forward.

Grayson Allen, Royce O'Neale, and Bradley Beal are all very worthy of minutes, but it feels as if Dunn has accomplished enough in his young career to justify an influx of minutes himself.

The Virginia product is the only consistent point-of-attack defender on the team and could have helped on Sunday - he has to get more playing time tomorrow night.

The Suns' season is quickly slipping away despite some truly positive contributions from Dunn, Nick Richards, and the star-laden talent on the team - they must approach every single game moving forward as a must-win.