Phoenix Suns’ Devin Booker (1) drives between Orlando Magic striker Dwayne Bacon (8) and center pivot 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?
Phoenix Suns’ 109-90 victory over the Orlando Magic on Sunday was elementary, with the Suns needing to move on to the second or third geat for just a few stretches during a rather easy defeat.
Mainly because Magic had only eight players available. Their star, Nikola Vucevic, was in, but other than that, only Michael Carter-Williams and Terrence Ross were left in terms of reliable rotating players.
The terrible start for Orlando certainly didn’t help.
The Magic (10-18) made only one of its first 13 shots. Some of them looked decent, but looked just like a team that was already mentally out of their minds, exploding defensive spins that a Steve Clifford team wouldn’t dare to mess with.
Meanwhile, Devin Booker of Suns scored 17 points in the first quarter.
At the end of the first quarter, it was Booker 17, Magic 16.
There is a certain level of urgency that a professional sports team needs to have to win. We all saw how it looks when it’s missing.
It’s not like Suns is 100% in any case, but it was enough to get the job done and cruise.
There was an 8-0 run at Magic in the second quarter, reducing Phoenix’s lead to 15. But after a Monty Williams timeout, the Suns lead never really lost any stability.
In the interval, Magic had four points in the painting and zero points of fastbreak.
Phoenix (17-9) kept the lead above 15 at all times. Booker finished with 27 points, Mikal Bridges with 21 and Chris Paul with 12 points, six rebounds and nine assists. Orlando hit 37.1% of the pitch.
While there shouldn’t be much doubt that Suns could take care of business on Sunday, there was some apprehension in the fan base due to the team’s losses. They include a broken defeat in Washington, an absence from home against Oklahoma City and a difficult performance in Detroit.
Entering Sunday, the Suns were 9-6 against teams below .500 and 7-3 against the rest. They had 79 minutes of clutch, mostly in the NBA, then another decisive victory or two unregistered, but it was a little abnormal due to their success. This is neither a concern nor a complaint about a team that has now won nine of its last 10 games. Just a fact about how they are progressing this season.
Not every victory can be like Saturday against the Philadelphia 76ers, the victory of the season so far.
Winning like them against Magic is something that great teams do, and Suns fans should already know that with those who have done it in Phoenix in the past two years. In the second game on his back, the execution was cool to see.
“More than anything, we did what we had to do to win the game,” said Williams. “We had some really exciting games in this building. And to win the way we won the last few games – we didn’t even want to talk about a disappointment, because we’re not the type of team that can look at someone in any other way than (to) respect them.
“So getting in and running our business is very important to us.”