What We Learned From Suns' Short-Handed Loss to Heat

The Suns had one of their worst offensive showings without two star players.

Jan 25, 2026; Phoenix, Arizona, USA; Phoenix Suns forward Dillon Brooks (3) shoots the ball against Miami Heat forward Simone Fontecchio (0) in the first half at Mortgage Matchup Center. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images | Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

PHOENIX -- The Phoenix Suns could not find any offense in their first game after Devin Booker suffered a right ankle sprain and fell 111-102 to the Miami Heat last night.

Both teams really struggled from the floor, as Phoenix dropped to 1-4 without Booker on the season and 27-19 overall.

Jalen Green was also out for Phoenix with right hamstring injury management after tweaking his right hamstring strain in Friday's loss to the Atlanta Hawks, although the Suns sound optimistic he will return to the court soon.

Booker, on the other hand, is scheduled to be re-evaluated on Sunday.

Dillon Brooks had a game-high 26 points on 11-of-23 shooting to go along with five rebounds for the Suns, while Bam Adebayo led Miami (24-22) with 22 points and seven rebounds.

Here were the big takeaways from the Suns' loss without their two stars:

Suns Need to Knock Down 3-Pointers and Take Smarter Shots

Phoenix could not hit the 3-pointer all night long, finishing 7-for-35 (20%) from deep and also shot a season-low 37% from the field (37-for-100).

Grayson Allen (1-for-11 from 3) and Royce O'Neale (0-for-7 from 3) were a combined 1-for-18 from 3-point range, which is not a winning formula with Booker out.

A lot of Phoenix's 3-pointers came from very deep and were early in the shot clock, but were the kind of shots coach Jordan Ott is fine with.

"When they don't go in, people say something about it," Ott said. "That's pretty typical. I think we got to get a shot up. We'd obviously love to get better, high quality shots. We'd love to get the room every single possession, if you could. That's not what we have. We have guys that can really shoot off the dribble, and we have guys that go get it off the glass.

He added later: "Anytime Grayson Allen gets up 11 (3-pointers), Royce gets up seven, it's usually a good sign for us."

Booker is certainly a catalyst for open 3s because of the gravity he has on the floor, which Phoenix missed, as the Suns only had 14 assists as a team, tying their second-lowest mark of the year.

"He's able to create that first domino so many times and make the right play," Ott said of Booker. "Talked about it all year, his ability to get off of it at the perfect time. Have a feel for the game, have a feel for his teammates, is unmatched and unlike anything like I've been around. Without him out there, their ability to switch really affected us.

"Then we tried to get on the glass, but weren't able to convert those. Yeah, obviously missed him, but we've been there a couple games before, even on a road trip in Detroit, just weren't able to put a couple in to keep that gap closed."

Suns Can’t Win Without Booker When Getting Outhustled

Phoenix had some spurts throughout the game where it showed some energy, but overall the Heat, who were on the second night of a back-to-back and got into Phoenix super early this morning after plane delays, simply played harder the majority of the game.

Both teams grabbed a lot of offensive rebounds with the Suns actually winning this area 21-18, but Phoenix was not able to play its usual style of forcing turnovers and getting out and running in transition with only six steals.

“I don’t think we had good energy going in," Brooks said. "We were sluggish and then that translated into our offense. They offensive rebounded pretty good, hit some shots. I felt like our energy was not there.”

Suns’ Defense Still Good Enough to Keep Them in Games Without Booker

Even though the game was ugly on both sides of the ball, the Suns' defense still played pretty well in most halfcourt possessions, even though they had a few lapses here and there.

The Heat shot 39-for-93 (41.9) from the field and 9-for-36 (25%) from 3 on the night.

The Suns know they have to hang their hat on defense when Booker is out in order to have a chance because of the offensive loss without him, but Miami's driving ability was still a tough challenge especially given how small Phoenix is.

"I thought overall, our defense was pretty solid," Ott said. "They do a great job of just driving the ball to the rim. Obviously, we'd like to have a couple of those possessions back where they got right to the rim, but overall, you hold them to 42%.

"Tried to keep them off the free throw line the best we could. So we put ourselves in a position defensively to be in it, just couldn't make enough shots.”

The Suns are back in action Tuesday night against the Brooklyn Nets (12-32), as they'll look to try to figure out a way to win without Booker and snap this two-game losing streak.