Any thought that the All-Star break would provide the Phoenix Suns with a solution for their myriad of issues might have been overly optimistic.
The Suns appear to be dealing with many of the same concerns heading into Saturday’s road matchup against the Chicago Bulls, who have lost five straight.
Phoenix returned from the All-Star break on Thursday and faced a number of familiar challenges in a 120-109 loss to the San Antonio Spurs in Austin, Texas.
The loss was the fourth straight and seventh in eight games for the Suns, who are in 11th place in the Western Conference after trailing by as many as 16 points against San Antonio.
Phoenix forward Royce O’Neale scored a career-high 27 points, but the Suns struggled again on the defensive end. San Antonio outrebounded the Suns 44-39 despite missing center Victor Wembanyama, who is out for the remainder of the season with a blood clot in his right shoulder.
“We’ve got to show more resistance,” Phoenix guard Bradley Beal said. “Take on the challenges better. Help better. Rebound better. We have to do everything better on the defensive end, and we didn’t do that tonight.”
Kevin Durant scored 22 points in Thursday’s loss, while Devin Booker added 17 on 4-of-14 shooting (2 of 7 from 3-point range). Even with the Suns just outside of a play-in tournament spot, Durant refuses to panic.
“There’s beauty in the struggle and all that stuff,” Durant said, “especially when you come out of the other side of things, and you realize that pressure and hard times make you better, so I think we can pull from these experiences to get better and use them for next games, but the worst thing we can do is feel sorry for ourselves.”
Phoenix has won its last nine meetings against Chicago, which is seeking its first home win over the Suns since Nov. 21, 2018.
The Bulls turned in a strong effort on Thursday but fell short in a 113-111 overtime loss to the host New York Knicks. Josh Giddey had 27 points and 16 rebounds to lead Chicago.
“I thought we did the right things,” Giddey said. “We defended the way we needed to, we made some shots. It just has to be a consistent effort, and for those last five minutes (in overtime) it wasn’t.”
Nikola Vucevic scored 21 points against New York and is averaging 18.7 points and 10.6 rebounds in his last 10 games versus the Suns.
The Bulls appear focused on the future after trading veterans DeMar DeRozan, Alex Caruso, and Zach LaVine earlier this season, but coach Billy Donovan pushed back on the notion of tanking for a better draft pick.
“The responsibility I have is to winning and putting the guys out there who give us the best chance to do that,” Donovan said. “I feel that’s my job and responsibility as a coach.”
Chicago forward Patrick Williams will be out for at least the next two weeks after receiving a platelet rich plasma (PRP) injection in his right knee. Williams’ injury will likely create more playing time for second-year pro Julian Phillips, who scored 12 points on Thursday.
The Bulls will also be without Jalen Smith against the Suns. The reserve forward is in the concussion protocol after exiting Thursday’s game in the second quarter.
