On Tuesday night, the Phoenix Suns, who made the NBA Finals two seasons ago and made it all the way to the Western Conference Semifinals last season, took on the Houston Rockets.
The Rockets are currently the worst team in the West and entered the game with a dreadful 8-18 record.
This should have been easy work for the Suns, even without Devin Booker, right?
What’s going on in Phoenix ? pic.twitter.com/dnhTeediUG
— NBACentral (@TheNBACentral) December 14, 2022
Wrong.
At halftime, the Suns trailed the Rockets 54-35.
And when the game was over, the Rockets beat the Suns with ease, 111-97.
It was a tough, confounding loss for the Suns made even worse by the fact that it was their fifth defeat in a row.
NBACentral had it right when they asked on Twitter, “What’s going on in Phoenix?”
Looking For Sunshine
The current losing streak started on December 5, when the Suns were taken down by Luka Doncic and the Dallas Mavericks.
Following that, they then fell to the Boston Celtics, New Orleans Pelicans (twice), and now the Houston Rockets.
Right before this rough patch started, the Suns were of course the top team in the West.
Now they are barely hanging onto 4th place, right ahead of the Portland Trail Blazers.
Part of the blame can be placed on the fact that Booker has been missing games, but he also partook in some of these losses too.
Chris Paul is back from his injury and he has shown some inconsistency and rust in his game.
Frankly, there are multiple reasons why the Suns are struggling and none of them are impossible to overcome.
Head coach Monty Williams is aware that his team isn’t at the place it should be and he is working hard to remedy the bone-headed moves, lacking speed, and porous defense.
But he better be working quickly.
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