Suns adjusting to life without Devin Booker, face lowly Nets
The Phoenix Suns will look to regain their offensive rhythm when they host the Brooklyn Nets on Tuesday, understanding things change without leading scorer Devin Booker.
Booker's absence stood out in the Suns' 111-102 home loss to Miami on Sunday, when they shot 37% from the field and made only 7 of 35 3-point attempts (20%).
"He's able to create the first domino so many times and make the right play," Suns coach Jordan Ott said of Booker.
"His ability to get off it at the perfect time, have a feel for the game, have a feel for his teammates, is unmatched. (Unlike) anything I've been around."
Booker, who leads the Suns in points (25.4) and assists (6.2) per game, suffered a right ankle sprain in a 110-103 loss at Atlanta on Friday and is expected to miss the next several games during a stretch in which the Suns have nine of 10 at home.
The Suns are 1-4 without Booker, who is to be reevaluated at the end of the week. Suns guard Jalen Green (hamstring) is questionable after aggravating his hamstring injury in Atlanta and missing the Miami game.
"Feel helpless, to be honest with you, at times," Ott said of the offense when Booker and Green are out.
The Heat's switching defense kept the Suns from getting their normal looks on the perimeter, and Booker's loss magnified the effect.
"When (Booker) is in the game, it simplifies the way we get open looks," said Grayson Allen, who had 18 points against the Heat while starting in place Booker.
"We still do a good job most of the time generating open looks for each other without him in the game. It is harder to sustain for a 48-minute game ... there were some times we got stalled out and a little slow offensively."
Allen was 1 of 11 from distance against the Heat and Royce O'Neale was 0 for 7. The Suns' seven made 3-pointers were their second-lowest total of the season.
Brooklyn enters the second game of a five-game trip after its second lopsided loss in three games, a 126-89 thrashing at the Los Angeles Clippers on Sunday.
The Nets have lost five in a row and 10 of 11, and they were stuffed 120-66 at the New York Knicks last Wednesday, the second-worst loss in franchise history. In between was a 130-126 double-overtime home loss to Boston on Friday.
"Right now, one out of three games ... as far as being competitive, is not good enough," Nets coach Jordi Fernandez said. "We should be three for three competitive, whether you win or lose.
"We have to decide who we want to be, and it starts with everybody's focus and effort. We're obviously going to need the right pieces on the floor that compete at a certain standard."
The Nets have found it difficult to generate offense throughout the season. They are averaging a league-low 107.9 points per game and are shooting 44.2% from the field, tied with Indiana for the league low entering Monday.
Egor Demin (12 points) was the only starter in double figures against the Clippers as the Nets shot 34.1%.
After the Clippers outscored the Nets 38-14 in the first quarter, Fernandez found positives in the Nets' play in the late second quarter and the third. The Nets outscored the Clippers 29-28 in the third.
"You can lose or you can be a loser," Fernandez said. "For 18 minutes we lost and we were competitive. For 30 minutes we're losers. So we have to decide what we want to be."