The Phoenix Suns are hoping that their defensive resurgence will carry over into the first game of a five-game road trip, a meeting with the host Atlanta Hawks on Tuesday night.
The clubs met last Thursday in Phoenix, with the Suns earning a 123-115 victory. The Suns are seeking their first win in Atlanta since March 24, 2014.
Atlanta will be well-rested. The Hawks have not played since facing Phoenix, marking the final game of a six-game road trip. Their contest against the Houston Rockets on Saturday was postponed when a winter storm in the Atlanta area caused icy road conditions, making it dangerous for players, fans and staff to travel to the arena.
The Suns have won three straight games for the first time since reeling off seven wins in a row early in the season. Phoenix beat the Charlotte Hornets 120-113 on Sunday, a victory that Suns coach Mike Budenholzer credited to the team’s willingness to play defense.
“It’s always the challenge in this league — keep executing on both ends, keep digging in defensively, finding ways to get stops, finding ways to win games,” Budenholzer said. “In the second half against Atlanta, I thought our defense stood out. The fourth quarter (Sunday), our defense stood out. We have to keep leaning into that, and then I think that can fuel us offensively.”
Atlanta coach Quin Snyder admitted that Phoenix’s defense was bothersome for his team last week.
“They really collapsed in some of our penetration,” Snyder said. “I thought we got a little stagnant in those situations and it showed because we weren’t able to generate as many threes, as many open ones.”
On top of that, the Atlanta defense had moments of frustration. After forcing the Suns to work deep into the shot clock, veterans like Kevin Durant, Bradley Beal and Devin Booker would make a late basket for Phoenix.
“You can play good defense on a possession and Beal and Book and KD can all create a shot,” Snyder said. “There’s a lot of times you can feel like you did what you need to do and they’re making a pull-up. That makes the other situations even more important where they can’t get a second shot.”
Durant (27.1 points per game), Booker (24.9) and Beal (17.7) continue to be among the elite scoring trios in the league. Booker scored 30 points and Durant added 27 on Sunday, and Beal had 25 in the last game against Atlanta. Beal has been a problem for the Hawks, averaging 21.6 points across 36 matchups against them.
The Suns are watching the availability of Grayson Allen, who has been managing a sore left knee most of the season and is listed as probable for Tuesday. He did not play in the second half against Charlotte after netting a season-high 23 points against Atlanta.
The Hawks continue to be without second-leading scorer Jalen Johnson, who will miss a fourth straight game due to a shoulder injury.
As a result, Atlanta has leaned on star Trae Young for more scoring. Young averaged 27.0 points, 11.5 assists, 2.3 rebounds and 1.0 steal on the Hawks’ recent six-game road trip. He enters Tuesday needing two field goals to pass Al Horford (3,544) for the 10th most in club history but is listed as questionable due to an illness.
–Field Level Media
