The Phoenix Suns have gotten their season off to a winning start with a close 116-113 OT win over the Los Angeles Clippers, who played their first regular season game at the new Intuit Dome arena. The Suns talent overcame the Clippers down the stretch, as the Kawhi Leonard-less Clippers tried keeping themselves in the game through aggressive perimeter defense and a vintage James Harden performance.
The Suns were led by Kevin Durant’s 25 points and seven rebounds, while Bradley Beal chipped in with 24 points. Devin Booker fouled out in the fourth quarter and had a quiet 15 points with six assists. One performance to note was the rookie shift from Oso Ighodaro, as the second-round draft pick put up two points and grabbed six rebounds in just 12 minutes in an impactful stint.
Harden put up 29 points, 12 rebounds, and eight assists in the loss, unable to deliver down the stretch in OT as he turned the ball over on the final play of the game. Ivica Zubac showed up with 21 points and nine rebounds but he was haunted by foul trouble. Norman Powell had a solid 17 points, but the Clippers didn’t have enough as a unit to pull this win out.
Here are three major takeaways from this heavyweight Western Conference clash.
Suns’ Stat Leaders:
Kevin Durant: 25 PTS, 7 REB, 3 STL, 1 BLK (8-17 FG, 2-5 3PT, 7-9 FT)
Bradley Beal: 24 PTS, 3 REB, 1 AST, 1 STL, 1 BLK (8-12 FG, 4-6 3PT, 4-5 FT)
Devin Booker: 15 PTS, 4 REB, 6 AST, 1 STL, 1 BLK (5-9 FG, 4-5 3PT, 1-2 FT)
Tyus Jones: 11 PTS, 2 REB, 8 AST, 2 STL, 1 BLK (5-10 FG, 1-5 3PT)
Jusuf Nurkic: 11 PTS, 9 REB, 2 AST, 2 STL (2-5 FG, 1-4 3PT, 6-8 FT)
Clippers’ Stat Leaders:
James Harden: 29 PTS, 12 REB, 8 AST, 1 STL, 8 TO (10-28 FG, 2-9 3PT, 7-9 FT)
Ivica Zubac: 21 PTS, 9 REB, 3 AST (8-13 FG, 5-8 FT)
Norman Powell: 17 PTS, 4 REB, 4 AST, 1 BLK (5-16 FG, 1-7 3PT, 6-6 FT)
Derrick Jones Jr.: 12 PTS, 4 REB, 1 AST, 2 STL (5-6 FG, 2-2 3PT)
Amir Coffey: 11 PTS, 3 REB, 1 AST, 1 STL (4-4 FG, 2-2 3PT, 1-2 FT)
The Suns Overcame Aggressive Perimeter Defense
The Phoenix Suns aren’t the one-dimensional offensive team we saw last season. Mike Budenholzer has reinvigorated their offense by structuring a motion offense which gives the Suns more options against aggressive man-to-man defense than last year’s iso-ball style.
Despite the Clippers using POA defenders like Derrick Jones Jr. to guard aggressively and throw double-teams, the Suns shot 38-78 (48.7 FG%) from the field and 15-38 (39.5 3P%) from three. The Clippers also forced 22 turnovers in the contest.
Tyus Jones point guard play was a revelation for the Suns tonight, as he put up eight assists on 0 turnovers, identifying the right bail-out options whenever the Clippers defense was rotating. Devin Booker had a quiet night because of the Clippers constantly hounding him with double-teams, but his gravity allowed other Suns players such as Beal and Grayson Allen get good three-point opportunities.
If the Suns can consistently overcome aggressive defenses like this, they’ll have a great chance at pushing for a top-four seed in the West.
Suns Rotation Is Deep And Reliable
There weren’t any double-digit scorers off the Suns bench, but when you have a team designed to be a top-heavy offensive machine, you need specific rotational players to enhance your style of play. The Suns seem to have nailed that formula given how they looked tonight, with a deep cast of players playing productive minutes in this win.
Mason Plumlee put up eight points in just 14 minutes, playing great as a backup center behind Jusuf Nurkic, who was in foul trouble for chunks of the game. Royce O’Neale had just five points and five rebounds but was one of the Suns’ most impactful defenders during this game. The same can be said about rookies Oso Ighadaro and Ryan Dunn, though Dunn was bad on offense (1-5 FG).
The team as a whole had 12 steals and nine blocks in a great defensive performance.
Given last year’s three-point efficiency leader Grayson Allen (8 PTS) also came off the bench with offensive spark Monte Morris (5 PTS), the Suns have a robust 10-man rotation that will be relied upon heavily this season.
The Clippers Could Be In Trouble
This was honestly a great performance from the Clippers. They pushed a projected Western Contender to OT in a closely-contested game where they had to make a second-half comeback to get back into. Unfortunately, it seemed like one of the best performances this rotation of Clippers could have had given Kawhi Leonard’s absence.
Harden overcame a 2-11 first half to take over the game with 16 points (5-9 FG) in the third quarter alone. Unfortunately, the reality of the 36-year-old Harden at this point is that he cannot carry teams to success like he could five years ago, as indicated by his two crucial game-clinching turnovers in OT.
The Clippers’ success this season will be heavily dependent on Harden, as when he was cooking, the Clippers controlled the game but when he got cold, the Suns came back and won the game.
Without Kawhi, there aren’t many offensive options the Clippers can rely on. With their 2025 Draft Pick headed to the OKC Thunder, the Clippers have to figure out a way to be realistically competitive in the West this season.
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