Bright Side Baller: Phoenix falls to Denver when another 40 bomb seals their fate

Tell me if you’ve heard this before: The Phoenix Suns are off to a competitive start. They trade baskets with the opponent in the first half and keep it close… maybe a five-point game when the halftime siren sounds. Then comes the third quarter and things go like clockwork. The Suns are thrown into the sun, giving up more than 40 points in the frame and stumbling into another loss.

Does this sound familiar? Well, on Monday evening it happened again. This time the Suns were beaten by the Denver Nuggets 117-90. Ninety points. That’s all the Suns could muster. As for abandoning 40+ in a single quarter? At this point, it’s practically tradition. It’s the second time in as many games. A team that was 1-9 without Kevin Durant in the lineup is now 0-2 without Devin Booker, and they’re giving out “40 bombs” in the third quarter like they have things up their sleeve.

Something’s broken in Phoenix. No cracking. Not a tear. Broken.

The Suns have talent — elite talent, even — but none of it seems to matter when they can’t stop anyone and the third quarter remains a graveyard for their efforts. The consistency of their collapse has become almost comforting in its predictability. But comfort leads to complacency, and complacency leads to loss.

And the losses, my friends, are mounting quickly in the valley.

Season status of the Bright Side Ballers

Age. Mariah Carey is doing it for the Suns this year. After Phoenix’s dull performance against Detroit, the five-time Grammy winner is once again at the top of our rankings for best performance of the night. Why? Because we know that somewhere she’s saying “All I Want For Christmas” and giving it her all. Something the Suns are apparently interested in.

Bright Side Baller nominees

Someone has to win, right?

Kevin Durant

23 points (8 of 15, 2 of 3 3PT), 9 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal, 3 turnovers, -19 +/-

Bradley Beal

23 points (9 of 17, 5 of 7 3PT), 0 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal, 2 turnovers, -18 +/-

Tyus Jones

9 points (4 of 8, 1 of 3 3PT), 4 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 turnover, -24 +/-

Oso Ighodaro

7 points (3 of 3), 6 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 block, -10 +/-

Fire them up!