Phoenix Suns guard Devin Booker (1) rides between Orlando Magic forward Dwayne Bacon (8) and center Nikola Vucevic (9) during the first half of an NBA basketball game on Sunday, February 14, 2021 in Phoenix. (AP Photo / Rick Scuteri)
Is this what it’s like to be on the other side of it?
The Phoenix Suns’ 109-90 victory at the Orlando Magic on Sunday was elementary, with the Suns only having to shift into second or third gear a few stretches on a fairly easy route.
This was mainly because the Magic only had eight available players. Their star Nikola Vucevic was in, but outside of it, only Michael Carter-Williams and Terrence Ross were left in terms of dependable rotational players.
The terrible start for Orlando certainly didn’t help.
The Magic (10-18) made only one of the first 13 recordings. A handful of those were decent looks, but they just looked like a team mentally already out, blowing up defensive rotations that a Steve Clifford team wouldn’t dare mess up.
Meanwhile, Devin Booker of the Suns scored 17 points in the first quarter.
At the end of the first quarter, it was Booker 17, Magic 16.
There is a degree of urgency that a professional sports team needs to win. We’ve all seen what it looks like when that’s missing.
It’s also not like the Suns’ were at 100%, but it was enough to get the job done and cruising.
There was an 8-0 Magic run in the second quarter to reduce Phoenix’s lead to 15. But after a timeout from head coach Monty Williams, the Suns advantage never really lost any stability there.
At half time the Magic had four points in the paint and no fast break points.
Phoenix (17-9) stayed above 15 all the time. Booker finished with 27 points, Mikal Bridges added 21 and Chris Paul had 12 points, six rebounds and nine assists. Orlando shot 37.1% of the field.
While there was not much doubt that the Suns could take care of business Sunday, there was some trepidation from the fan base given the team’s losses. They included a massive defeat in Washington, a no-show at home to Oklahoma City, and a rough gig in Detroit.
On Sunday, the Suns were 9-6 against teams under .500 and 7-3 against the rest. They had 79 clutch minutes, the most in the NBA, so one or two more decisive wins that weren’t on the record were still somewhat abnormal given their success. That’s not a concern or complaint about a team that has now won nine of the last 10 games. Just a fact about the way they are progressing this season.
Not every win can be like Saturday’s win against the Philadelphia 76ers, the season’s win so far.
Winning like they did against the Magic is something great teams do, and Suns fans should know how much has happened in Phoenix in recent years. In the second game from back-to-back, the performance was fun to watch.
“Most of all, we did what we had to do to win the game,” said Williams. “We’ve played some really emotional games in this building. And to win like we’ve won the last few games – we didn’t even want to talk about a disappointment because we’re not the kind of team that can look at someone any other way than (to) respect them.
“So to come in and do our business is huge for us.”