The Phoenix Suns are having a great season, but their current task is to learn to keep the winning going without injured point guard Chris Paul. Here’s Arizona Sports on Sunday’s Suns loss to the Jazz:
Time to dial those expectations back a bit if you were expecting smooth sailing for the Phoenix Suns without Chris Paul (and, for the meantime, Cam Payne).
Even in a game on Sunday afternoon where they played fairly well against a very good Utah Jazz team, it just wasn’t enough, and that “enough” is a much higher bar in this situation. That brought on a 118-114 loss to Utah.
To rinse and repeat the theme from Friday, the wiggle room for a Paul-less Suns to come out with wins is cut off dramatically. The Suns can still execute to that level, and this is not to say the expectation should be .500 ball until Paul’s back, but there’s an obvious adjustment period they’re going through that we’re seeing.
Phoenix shot 51.2% from the field and 46.4% at 3-point range. But the Jazz decisively won the battles in second-chance (27-14) and bench points (43-11), putting the Suns back in an uphill journey despite the great shooting numbers.
The Suns still have a nice six-game lead on the Warriors in the West. And the Warriors are a few games up on the Grizzlies, who are three games up on the Jazz.
