The Phoenix Suns will be desperate to give their play-in hopes a jolt when they host the red-hot Houston Rockets on Sunday.
Phoenix (35-39), which has dropped its last two games, is 11th in the Western Conference, one game behind both the Dallas Mavericks and the Sacramento Kings, who are tied for ninth place. Two of these three teams appear likely to fill the last two berths in the play-in tournament.
The Suns missed an opportunity to nudge past Dallas into the 10th spot on Friday when they lost 124-109 to the Minnesota Timberwolves in Minneapolis.
Kevin Durant scored 23 points, but fellow superstar Devin Booker was held to 10, matching his season low.
With Bradley Beal missing his sixth straight game due to a left hamstring injury, second-year guard Collin Gillespie stepped up with career-highs of 22 points and 10 assists in 26 minutes.
Durant is averaging 26.8 points per game to be the league’s sixth-leading scorer this season, and Booker’s 25.3 average ranks him 10th, but no other Sun is inside the top 50.
If Gillespie can continue to provide a genuine third offensive option — particularly if Beal’s injury issues continue — it will augur well for the Suns in their fight to climb the standings.
“Collin was great,” Durant said. “(I) wish we could have got a win for him. That would have been even better, but it’s a good stepping stone and will build more confidence.
“I don’t know what the standings are looking like right now, but it’s not looking good for us — we’re out of the play-in. But as pros we’ve got to come back and work, and figure it out as best we can. It’s part of the job, so I’m looking forward to the next game.”
Phoenix has lost its past three meetings with Houston, including both games this season.
Suns coach Mike Budenholzer knows his side needs to compete and execute better, both offensively and defensively, to curb the Rockets.
“We’ve got to execute at both ends,” he said. “We’ve got to get stops, we’ve got to get out and run. We’ve got to share it. We’ve got to play together. We’ve just got to play good basketball no matter who we’re playing.”
Houston (48-26) has won 11 of its past 12 outings to catapult into the second spot in the West, moving 1 1/2 games clear of the Denver Nuggets.
The Rockets maintained their superb recent stretch on Thursday when they comfortably accounted for the Utah Jazz on the road 121-110.
Alperen Sengun posted 33 points and 10 rebounds and Jalen Green contributed 21 points.
“They’re a young squad that’s taking advantage of opportunity,” Houston coach Ime Udoka said. “There are a lot of guys in and out of our lineups. Some of the vets that are missing, young guys make up for that with effort and playing hard.
“As always this time of year, guys are playing for something, their futures, whatever the case may be.”
Green averages 21.5 points to lead the Rockets’ scoring while Sengun provides 19.2 points and a team-best 10.5 rebounds per game.
–Field Level Media
