{"id":559588,"date":"2026-03-25T11:11:10","date_gmt":"2026-03-25T11:11:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/559588\/"},"modified":"2026-03-25T11:11:10","modified_gmt":"2026-03-25T11:11:10","slug":"suns-play-in-fate-looks-sealed-after-loss-to-nuggets","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/559588\/","title":{"rendered":"Suns’ play-in fate looks sealed after loss to Nuggets"},"content":{"rendered":"

PHOENIX \u2014 Whether you take more stock in the result or how the result occurred, the Phoenix Suns look play-in-bound after Tuesday\u2019s 125-123 loss to the Denver Nuggets<\/a>.<\/p>\n

For what would be required out of Phoenix to push up the Western Conference standings from seventh, we saw it in the first quarter. The Suns produced 35 points on 10 assists, putting forth one of their best offensive quarters in many weeks. The warts were there defensively through a handful of simple mistakes that led to open shots for Denver, namely from the corner and at the rim, but it was something.<\/p>\n

And then the rest of the game happened.<\/p>\n

The Suns had only three assists and 22 points in the following quarter, while Denver jumped from 28 to 39. The Suns\u2019 goofs off the ball persisted and became more frequent without more of a base offensively that let them set their defense.<\/p>\n

Denver\u2019s first three offensive possessions coming out of halftime with a 10-point lead resulted in a dunk, wide-open corner 3 for former Sun Cam Johnson and open layup in transition off a Suns make. While Phoenix kept scoring on the other end, that let us know what the conclusion was going to eventually look like, no matter how we got there.<\/p>\n

In typical 2025-26 Suns fashion, it was eventful<\/a>!<\/p>\n

That third quarter was 38-30 Suns, and they actually grabbed the lead late in it. At that point, they were 17 for 41 (41.5%) from deep and needed that bundle of 3s it knocked down each period to keep up for one more.<\/p>\n

Zero went down on five tries while Nikola Jokic got a rest, the minutes Denver usually gets blitzed in. The Nuggets won\u2019 em 15-13 and possessed a four-point lead with him on the floor for the final 5:55.<\/p>\n

Phoenix hung around, getting it down to a possession with 2:19 to go. From there out of the final 10 possessions, eight resulted in points. The two misses were by Jokic with 1:06 to go and Devin Booker on the last shot.<\/p>\n

After Jokic scored the go-ahead bucket, one in which Phoenix got a step too far away from him in the midrange, the Suns called timeout down two with 11.5 seconds remaining.<\/p>\n

The execution on the sideline out-of-bounds play was lackluster, as trusted passer Royce O\u2019Neale didn\u2019t see anything open so he had to safely toss it in the backcourt, burning a third of the clock before Booker could get into action.<\/p>\n

Booker on a dribble-handoff with O\u2019Neale eventually found space with a ball fake on a 3-pointer, and his ensuing shot did not fall.<\/p>\n

You could chuck this up to more failures in late-game execution, but if anything was to blame, it was the inability to get more than one single stop on that last spurt. And again, you could see that coming.<\/p>\n

Booker was the culprit on a bunch of the aforementioned bad defensive possessions, especially when snoozing off the ball. With this team struggling and the way in which it is floundering defensively, he\u2019s got to be much, much better on that end right now as the leader of the team.<\/p>\n

If he can\u2019t see the floor properly as a playmaker sometimes, that\u2019s fine. If shots don\u2019t go in sometimes, that\u2019s fine. If he\u2019s out of sync with his teammates on offense sometimes, that\u2019s fine. But he can 100% control his defensive impact and that has to change. We know he\u2019s a good defender, and we saw it for a lot of this season.<\/p>\n

Suns head coach Jordan Ott and Booker both leaned toward Denver\u2019s elite offense being more of a factor on Tuesday with the defensive gaffes but both acknowledged there were errors, particularly in the first half. Ott showed some of those slip-ups during the film review at halftime.<\/p>\n

After the unit really dropped off in February, there are signs in the last two weeks the defense is getting back to its standard.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re getting there,\u201d Booker said. \u201cWe\u2019re learning when we\u2019re the more physical team, it always puts us in a good situation.\u201d<\/p>\n

The question is if the Suns have enough time to relocate that standard.<\/p>\n

Booker shot 5 for 14 for 22 points with eight assists and zero turnovers.<\/p>\n

The Nuggets (45-28) entered Tuesday as one of the three teams that could [expletive] around and find out if it blunders one more time so close to the play-in line with just two-and-a-half weeks to go in the regular season.<\/p>\n

That trio that includes Houston (43-28) and Minnesota (44-28), who could also all win 50 games. If that happens, it would be the first time since 2014-15 when six teams in a conference all clocked 50-plus wins, and that year it was seven.<\/p>\n

Phoenix will have to hope one of \u2019em doesn\u2019t or else it\u2019s play-in-bound. The most the Suns can now reach is 49.<\/p>\n

Phoenix (40-33) has nine games left. If it goes 7-2, the Suns would only reach 47. You can do the math from there for the other squads. It\u2019s real tough sledding, and as Booker said after Sunday\u2019s win, the Suns did this to themselves with a handful of brutal losses in crunch time after controlling most of those fixtures.<\/p>\n

Jalen Green checked out with a little under five minutes to go in the third quarter and did not get back in until there were six minutes left. Other reserves had it going.<\/p>\n

Jordan Goodwin was bringing his usual dose of energy Phoenix desperately needed on defense while Grayson Allen knocked down five 3s. It was an off-night for Rasheer Fleming on both ends but it was telling that Ott was willing to tweak Green\u2019s rotation pattern to find that wing group more time after providing juice toward the end of the third quarter.<\/p>\n

When Oso Ighodaro caught a pass on a roll to the basket midway through the fourth quarter, he was grabbed by multiple defenders in a way that suggested it was intentional. Next time down, Denver hugged him off the ball, confirming it was.<\/p>\n

Ighodaro is a 46.9% free-throw shooter, something we haven\u2019t seen opponents capitalize on yet, but you knew was coming eventually. He made one of four. Denver did it again a minute later and Ighodaro connected on both.<\/p>\n

Ighodaro was at 61.6% in college and 58% last season with free-throw shooting, so this has been a long-term problem. If he ever wants to be out there for the end of really important games, it\u2019s got to get back in at least that range. He finished with 15 points, six rebounds, one assist and no turnovers.<\/p>\n

The Suns got Allen back from a four-game absence and O\u2019Neale also returned after sitting for three. Ryan Dunn (right groin soreness) was a late scratch after two good games off the bench.<\/p>\n

Phoenix will improve off those additions and others coming but it\u2019s going to get complicated when Dillon Brooks is back into the fold and offensive touches will shrink up for the now-three primary options, all while ball movement has to remain a priority. This plus the major drop-off defensively makes it difficult to see the Suns clicking in time to truly test someone in the first round of the NBA playoffs, and if the drop-off keeps up, there should be worry about even getting out of the play-in.<\/p>\n

Jokic closed with 23 points, 17 rebounds and 17 assists. The best player in the world argument doesn\u2019t even seem like one whenever you watch him live.<\/p>\n

Points in the paint were 58-36 Denver.<\/p>\n

The Suns only had three turnovers as a team. Stathead has that<\/a> as only the 39th occurrence ever. Denver\u2019s 35 assists and paint dominance, along with a 15-10 edge in second-chance points, are how you overcome that.<\/p>\n

Follow @KellanOlson<\/a><\/p>\n

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