Initial glow fades: Suns return to collapse spiral

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00:00Well, that was quite a ride while it lasted, but it ended in a 1-19-105 defeat for the

00:06Phoenix Suns

00:07against the Houston Rockets on Tuesday night. The evening began with a palpable buzz in the

00:12valley. You had Kevin Durant back in the building, Jalen Green facing his former team for the first

00:17time, and Dylan Brooks competing against the organization that moved him. All of that combined

00:23to deliver a jolt of energy and a level of intensity that had been sorely missing over

00:27the past week, not to mention the declining form we've witnessed over the last two-plus

00:32months. And for a stretch that energy translated directly to the scoreboard. The Suns ripped

00:37off a staggering 24-0 run, building a 21-point lead in just over six minutes of play. It

00:43felt like a statement, but Houston stayed the course. They absorbed that initial punch and

00:47refused to relent. By the time the final buzzer sounded, a 38-21 fourth quarter for the Rockets

00:53had completely erased all that early progress, dragging the Suns right back to where they

00:59started in a game that carried a playoff-like atmosphere. Jalen Green mentioned after the game

01:04that he felt that high-level intensity from the Suns only lasted for about two quarters. When asked

01:09about the drop-off and the solution, he put it simply, I think we just need to double down on

01:14defense,

01:15getting stops and really focusing on that end. This performance brought back an uncomfortable memory.

01:20It was extremely reminiscent of a loss two years ago, in April to the New Orleans Pelicans. You

01:25might recall that night when Zion Williamson dominated, and any effort Phoenix made to snap

01:30out of a prolonged funk was completely nullified. Those flashes of good basketball began to feel

01:35like a mirage, and that was ultimately the same closing feeling settling over the footprint center

01:40on this Tuesday evening. Offensively, Phoenix was neutralized by Houston's defense. Much like we've

01:48seen from several opponents recently, the Rockets successfully cut off passing lanes and made sure

01:53help defenders stuck tight to shooters. Opposing teams seemed perfectly content, allowing the Suns'

01:59three primary scorers to go to work in isolation, just as long as the ball movement never gets sprung

02:05free. As a result, the Suns leaned almost exclusively on the free throw line to generate points.

02:11They set a new season high with 34 made free throws, six more than their previous best,

02:16but they connected on just 7 of 31 attempts from three-point range while dishing out only 15 assists

02:22against 17 turnovers. Houston clearly possesses the blueprint for this matchup. In four losses to

02:28the Rockets this season, Phoenix's assist totals have been 11, 14, 23 and now 15, leading to point

02:36totals of 92, 98, 97 and 105. On the glass, it was a mauling. Houston, an elite offensive rebounding team,

02:46dominated the Suns on the offensive boards by a margin of 37 to 17. Given that the Rockets bring

02:52significantly more size to the table than Phoenix, the second-half collapse naturally sparked collective

02:58frustration among fans questioning why the Suns aren't utilizing some of their bigger players.

03:03Here is the central issue with that line of thinking. Think of it like a boss fight in a video

03:08game. If you can force the Suns into improper execution, low effort, or poor shot-making,

03:14all those layers of armor you've been hacking away at simply dissipate. Once that protection is gone,

03:20the boss is left completely vulnerable and exposed. Free hits from there. In basketball terms,

03:26once Phoenix is knocked off its game enough, it becomes open season. The team that was once on pace

03:31for 50 wins and was the league's best story can suddenly revert to looking like a 30-win squad

03:37in an instant. The construction of this roster is incredibly challenging. We understood this back

03:42in October. The team relies heavily on several 6'5 players who are its best talents. There are

03:48persistent question marks at the center position, whether it concerns health, specific skill sets,

03:54or overall consistency. There is a lack of trustworthy wings with size, and there is no reliable

04:00traditional point guard to steady the ship. Head coach Jordan Ott made the absolute most of this

04:06situation. For as long as he possibly could, he worked borderline miracles to keep this group afloat,

04:11but that miracle appears to have run its course. For half the season, we did not see the Suns' lack

04:18of size become a major detriment. That armor stayed intact. Teams with massive length advantages were not

04:25able to clobber them on the offensive glass. And if they did, Phoenix elite shooting options on the

04:30other end outweighed that negative. Defensively, they forced enough turnovers to win the possession

04:35battle. That balance is now totally out of sync. The defense has become far lazier and doesn't work as

04:41hard on a consistent basis. And that is affecting an offense that is still reworking its flow with three

04:46scorers trying to figure out how to function together. Even on nights where the Suns do force

04:51turnovers. Like Tuesday, when the margin was a close 19-18 in favor of Houston, they are turning

04:56it over too much themselves. That will always doom this team, because the glass will perpetually work

05:02against them. The armor is no longer up, so opponents are free to take advantage. Coach Ott

05:07addressed this directly, stating, we gotta somehow find other ways to match that possession game.

05:12He acknowledged plainly that the Suns have never been, and likely never will be,

05:16a strong, defensive, rebounding team. Now, I want to present some really important numbers for you to

05:24consider, especially given the anger about rotation choices. Prior to February 1st, the Suns ranked 6th

05:30in the league in their own offensive rebounding rate, while the rate they allowed was 25th. That is

05:35a proper and effective trade-off. However, since February 1st, the Suns ranked 9th in their own

05:40offensive rebounding rate. But the rate they are allowing has plummeted to 29th. That is far less

05:46proper of a trade-off, and here is a crucial detail to remember. The Suns actually played larger

05:52personnel over that same time period when the rebounding got worse. Rashear Fleming entered

05:57the rotation after the All-Star break, and it was around that time for Common Malawak as well.

06:02Ryan Dunn was a consistent presence until the last few games. So, in reality, you were getting the

06:08bigger lineups and the rebounding numbers were worse, not better. This issue has rarely been strictly

06:14about size. The reality is that Coach Ott's options to solve that size problem are limited to two

06:19rookies and a second-year wing who has been incredibly inconsistent this season. He probably

06:25should be playing at least one of them by now to try and rebalance things, and that candidate is

06:30likely Fleming. However, we are now in the second week of April with only three games left on the

06:35schedule. Ott would rather try to rekindle the balance that existed before than attempt to find a new

06:41one this late. As for the game specifics, a psychologist might not call it healthy, but

06:46there's nothing quite like a dose of negative energy or the revenge game narrative to fuel a team.

06:56It propelled the Suns to their best intensity in weeks, especially with shots falling early.

07:02Everything worked in a 37-point first quarter that featured four made three-pointers in the first

07:07four minutes as part of that 24-nil blitz, but the warning signs were there early. Houston kept

07:13Phoenix off the three-point line and forced them to drive the ball. After that hot start, the Suns

07:18shot just one for 12 from deep for the rest of the first half. Eleven of their 20 points in

07:24the second

07:24quarter came from the charity stripe. Midway through that second quarter, Kevin Durant and Dylan Brooks

07:30got into a lengthy verbal exchange, which included Brooks pointing at the scoreboard to remind Durant of

07:36the Suns' double-digit lead. That move appeared unwise. Durant became much more engaged offensively

07:41from that point forward, which helped Houston recover from 21 points down in the first to scoring

07:4733 in the second. A questionable technical foul on Devin Booker shortly after only compounded the

07:52momentum swing, and Houston went into halftime trailing by just three points. The third quarter is

07:57where the Suns truly lost this game. For the second consecutive quarter, they could only generate

08:02consistent offense via free throws. 13 of their 27 points came at the foul line, failing to capitalize

08:08on a Houston offense that was also struggling and relying almost entirely on second-chance points.

08:14Over the middle three quarters combined, 24 of the Suns' 47 points came from the line,

08:19while they managed just six assists and committed seven turnovers. 13 of the Rockets' 27 points in the

08:26third were second-chance opportunities. A lot of that came down to inattentive off-ball defending

08:32by the Suns. In the second half, that lack of focus carried over to the fourth quarter,

08:37where Houston opened with an 8-nil run featuring dunks from Alperin Sengun and Eamon Thompson,

08:43a floater from Aaron Holiday with minimal resistance, and a Thompson slam in transition.

08:48It was a clear indicator that the troubling issues from the last week were still very much present and

08:54ready to resurface. The Suns collapsed just as emphatically as the Rockets seized control.

09:00Kevin Durant finished with 24 points on 8-of-20 shooting, along with four rebounds and three

09:06assists. You could tell he wanted this win badly, but he did not want to give Dylan Brooks credit

09:11for providing a spark. I don't think about guys like Dylan Brooks when I'm out there playing,

09:16Durant said. I mean, it's fun, it's cool to compete against guys that play hard,

09:20but I don't need him or anybody to give me extra motivation to play.

09:24Devin Booker scored 15 of his 31 points at the free throw line with 8 assists. Jalen Green and

09:31Dylan Brooks both struggled to find a rhythm. Combining for just 8-for-26 shooting, Mark Williams

09:37provided a bright spot with a great first quarter. Finishing with 19 points and 8 rebounds,

09:43looking at the standings, the Los Angeles Clippers secured a win on Tuesday, moving them to 41-38.

09:49That places them just two games back of the Suns, who sit at 43-36, in the loss column.

09:55Phoenix should be in control of its own destiny, as long as it handles business on Wednesday,

10:00against the Dallas Mavericks. A Suns win combined with a Clippers loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder

10:05that same night, would clinch the 7th seed for Phoenix. But if the Suns drop that game,

10:10or if the Clippers manage to defeat the Thunder, the final few days of this regular season are going

10:15to become very, very interesting, given everything we just saw against Houston, the burst of energy

10:21followed by the familiar slow-motion collapse, what gives you more confidence in this team right

10:25now? The possibility that they can still flip the switch, or the evidence that the underlying issues

10:30are simply too much to overcome with only three games left.

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