PHOENIX — Devin Booker stood at his locker late Sunday night. The Phoenix Suns had just beaten the Charlotte Hornets on their home court, hardly a reason for celebration. But the effort had given the struggling Suns their third win in a row and their fourth in five games since coach Mike Budenholzer altered the lineup.
And so Booker was asked: Do you believe momentum can stretch from game to game?
“Hell, yeah,” he said.
“At this point, we’ve dropped too many games,” the star guard continued. “And we need every one. We’re going to go (with) a one-game-at-a-time mindset but the sense of urgency has to be high. We have a good example of what works for us and what doesn’t, so we have to build on that and learn from it.”
The Suns (19-19) start a five-game trip Tuesday night at Atlanta. From there they will go to Washington, Detroit, Cleveland and Brooklyn. For an organization that began with championship aspirations, it seems like a make-or-break stretch. Another chance for the Suns to show they can be a factor in the Western Conference, where they left town in 10th place.
Sunday’s win over the Hornets, which had beaten Phoenix five days earlier in Charlotte, was telling. For contending teams, beating an 8-win opponent would have been a ho-hum experience. But after the Suns prevailed 120-113 on their home court, a collective sigh of relief was impossible to ignore. Another Charlotte loss would have been difficult to overcome.
“We had to dig in for that one, protect home court,” Booker said. “It was necessary for us. Every game is necessary. … It was a must-need win.”
The recent stretch comes with an asterisk. Since changing the lineup, moving Bradley Beal and Jusuf Nurkić to the bench, the Suns haven’t played a strong contender. They beat Philadelphia without Joel Embiid. They lost to the Hornets in Charlotte. They beat Atlanta, Utah and Charlotte at home.
Beal off the bench has been a positive. The former All-Star has struggled to find his place — leading to massive trade speculation — but he has thrived in a sixth-man role. For the first time in a while, Beal has looked more like himself, averaging 17.4 points in 32 minutes over the past five games.
“To be honest, I think he’s coming into the game now and it’s given him more opportunities to have the ball in his hands,” Suns star Kevin Durant said. “… We got a versatile group, and sometimes you can get lost in the shuffle a bit. It happens to all of us. We have a good team. But I feel like he’s playing the same type of game, just a little bit more aggressive.”
Nurkić is a different story. He’s not only fallen out of the lineup, he’s fallen out of the rotation. After playing 19 minutes in the Jan. 7 Charlotte loss, Nurkić did not play against Atlanta and Utah. Before Sunday’s game against the Hornets, the Suns listed Nurkić out because of illness. Budenholzer said the veteran center, who’s making $18.1 million this season, had tested positive with the flu and that Nurkić wouldn’t join Phoenix for at least the early part of the road trip.
With the Feb. 6 trade deadline approaching, it’s possible Nurkić, who dropped weight and worked on his 3-point shot to better fit into Budenholzer’s system, has played his last game with the Suns. If the Suns trade him, he would become the second starting center Phoenix has discarded since the start of the 2023-24 season. Former No. 1 draft pick Deandre Ayton was the first, dealt to Portland in a deal that brought Nurkić to the desert.
RT IF YOU LOVE OSO pic.twitter.com/rFDan5Ylno
— Phoenix Suns (@Suns) January 13, 2025
Phoenix has started veteran Mason Plumlee in Nurkic’s place but has also given rookie Oso Ighodaro a deeper look. Drafted in the second round, the 40th overall pick of the 2024 draft, Ighodaro played 30 minutes in Sunday’s win over Charlotte. More importantly, he started the second half and was on the court during the game’s final, decisive minutes.
At 6-foot-10, 235 pounds, Ighodaro lacks Nurkić’s bulk, which hurts Phoenix’s defensive rebounding, but he compensates in other areas. Along with fellow rookie Ryan Dunn, a defensive-minded wing who replaced Beal in the starting five, he makes the Suns more athletic, a quality they have lacked. This helps defensively in pick-and-roll coverage and with rim protection, and it gives the Suns a different look offensively.
In Sunday’s win, Phoenix isolated Durant in the final minutes. The 14-time All-Star took a pass on the left, just outside the lane. Dribbling with his back to the basket, Durant waited for the double team. Once it came, he whipped a pass inside to Ighodaro, who dunked. In five fourth-quarter minutes, Ighodaro scored eight points. He finished with 10 points and six rebounds.
“Those are the opportunities he’s been waiting on, and he’s taking advantage of it,” Booker said. “He’s ahead of the learning curve. He knows the game of basketball. You can have those intelligent basketball conversations with him.”
The Suns, who are 6-11 on the road, still have more questions than answers. They get outplayed for too many stretches. They don’t respond well to adversity. And with Nurkić out, they need help inside, sooner rather than later. But for the first time in a while, Phoenix feels better about itself.
“We just have to be more consistent,” Beal said. “Dont get rattled when teams go on runs or if we don’t get things going offensively. Or we don’t get stops. Just keep playing. It’s a long game. Teams are always going to let us back in one way or another, just keep our poise and stay together.”
GO DEEPER
Bradley Beal, now off the bench, might be playing his best basketball for the Suns
(Photo of Bradley Beal and Kevin Durant: Barry Gossage / NBAE via Getty Images)
