The Phoenix Suns are struggling to win away from home while the Washington Wizards are having trouble securing a victory regardless of location.
The Suns will look for an elusive road victory on Thursday night when they visit the Wizards on the second leg of their five-game trek.
Phoenix began its road trip with a 122-117 setback to the Atlanta Hawks on Tuesday night. The loss was the Suns’ 11th in their last 13 road games.
Devin Booker sank a season-high seven 3-pointers to highlight his 35-point performance versus Atlanta and Kevin Durant contributed 31 points, eight rebounds and six assists.
Impressive numbers to be certain, however the Suns were undone after allowing the Hawks to record 20 offensive rebounds.
“You have to hit first. When you have guys like (Clint) Capela and (Onyeka Okongwu), you have to do a job of just getting them off the boards,” Booker said, per AZcentral.com. “Somebody else get the rebound. Kind of like a face guard, but it gave us problems.”
Tyus Jones was more direct with his answer to the problem.
“It’s costing us games. Honestly. It’s costing us games,” Jones said, per AZcentral.com. “A couple of those rebounds, it changes the outcome. It’s a problem for us. Something we have to correct, otherwise it’s going to keep hurting us.”
The Suns are addressing their frontcourt, according to an ESPN report on Wednesday afternoon, in trading for Charlotte center Nick Richards along with a second-round draft pick. The 7-foot center is averaging 8.9 points, 7.5 rebounds and 1.2 blocks in 21 games (nine starts) this season. The Hornets receive guard Josh Okogie (6.0 ppg in 25 games, one start) and three second-round picks, according to the report.
Bradley Beal, who played his first 11 seasons with Washington, and Jones, who played in just one with the Wizards, will have a homecoming of sorts on Thursday.
Beal, however, sustained an ankle sprain in the third quarter on Tuesday. He was able to finish that game, but his availability for Thursday’s contest could be in jeopardy.
“It’s not as good as it can be,” Beal said of his ankle. “Definitely wasn’t a good tweak, but I just kind of pushed through it. Did the best I could do to finish.”
The Wizards are struggling to finish games, having fallen short in each of their last seven contests.
Kyle Kuzma scored 22 points and Jordan Poole added 20 in Washington’s 120-106 home setback to the Minnesota Timberwolves on Monday.
Rookies Alex Sarr, Bub Carrington and Kyshawn George also provided significant contributions, both in performance and in minutes.
Sarr scored 13 points, marking his 15th game in the last 16 in which he finished in double digits. George had 10 points and Carrington added eight to go along with five rebounds.
The freshman contingent also combined to play nearly 80 minutes in the contest.
“I’ve never played this (number) of games, never played this (high) minutes as well. So it’s definitely taken a toll,” Carrington said earlier this week, per the Washington Post. “… Can’t really dwell on it; it’s just something you got to get through.”
Second-year Bilal Coulibaly sank a pair of 3-pointers to highlight his 15-point performance on Tuesday.
“I felt good, hit my shots. They were finding me when I was open, and I was aggressive when I had to (be),” he said, per the Washington Post.
–Field Level Media
