Bright Side Baller: Easy should have won in the Big Easy

I’m not sure how to describe this year’s Phoenix Suns team. Bitten by a snake? KD dependent? Every time they give you a glimmer of hope, they snatch it away with the force of a hot air balloon crash. Just high enough to break your legs, but not your spirit. And yet, like gluttons for punishment, we dust ourselves off, hobble back to the basket and ask to have another ride.

Their performance in New Orleans was a cracker as they lost to a 4-18 team (yes, they had players returning, but still). For a team that prides itself on intellect, the Suns let the Pelicans set the tone, dictate the tempo and dominate on offense. Phoenix always played panicked to them by throwing away possessions like it was a fight inside the wall.

What’s truly astounding is their inability to counter obvious mistakes in defense. If opponents jump passing lanes, why not fake them out and take advantage of their aggressiveness? A pump fake here, a backdoor cut there, simple adjustments that could result in easy buckets and force them to think.

But no, not this team. Instead, they gifted the third quarter to a team with one of the worst point differentials in the league (-124), giving up a stunning 45 points in twelve minutes. It’s frustrating, it’s inexplicable and yet… we’re still here hoping for improvement.

You want more focus, you want more discipline. They would like to see some semblance of a defensive strategy. But this is the 2024-25 Suns, and after 21 games of this season, we’re learning that those traits simply aren’t possessed by this team, especially with Kevin Wayne Durant out due to injury.

Season status of the Bright Side Ballers:

Devin Booker is starting to extend his lead, and with Kevin Durant sidelined for at least another week, he takes the dominant lead in the BSB standings this season. His performance against Spurs, where he scored his 15,000th career point, was enough to earn him his fifth BSB of the season.

Devin Booker

28 points (6 of 20, 3 of 10 3PT), 4 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal, 3 turnovers, -10 +/-

I got paid for the two-minute report that revealed Booker was fouled on that play.

Bradley Beal

24 points (10 of 18, 2 of 7 3PT), 4 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 steals, 7 turnovers, -4 +/-

Tyus Jones

13 points (5 of 11, 3 of 8 3PT), 5 rebounds, 6 assists, 2 steals, 1 turnover, +13 +/-

Royce O’Neale

19 points (6 of 9, 5 of 8 3PT), 7 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals, 2 turnovers, -3 +/-

Grayson Allen

13 points (4-of-7, 3-of-5 3PT), 6 rebounds, 10 assists, 1 block, 1 turnover, -9 +/-

Someone has to win it. Who will it be?