There will always be a few losses that stick out each season no matter how good or bad a team is and Tuesday’s 151-148 Phoenix Suns defeat in overtime against the Memphis Grizzlies will be up there for many.
Inside the minutia beyond that overall sentiment it was at the same time a step in the right direction for the Suns and also the latest indication of how far behind they are.
They played far beyond their usual standard in the first two quarters before regressing back to how they’ve normally performed, albeit through a ridiculous offensive performance and one they fought like hell to try and make sure ended in a win through a frenetic final dozen minutes of the game.
It’s impossible not to wonder how Phoenix will respond to it.
A Suns loss that maintains real estate in the noggin is from the end of last season, when the New Orleans Pelicans beat them in Phoenix, a contest that had real stakes for both in the standings for game No. 78 and a postseason atmosphere.
It felt like a legitimate response from the Suns, using newfound focus and energy to put aside the bad vibes and negative direction the season was trending to beat a good team. It just wasn’t enough, and you could really see it on them toward the tail-end of the loss how that affected them, either a realization or confirmation of how the season was going to end.
Tuesday had far more 50/50 situations and chaotic energy to be an exact match. It does, however, hold some of that same energy.
Phoenix put out its best half in 2025 across the opening two quarters, committing to actual team defense and a real intent on playing for each other. The effort and engagement on defense were evident, which uncoincidentally allowed the offense to have a rhythm all half. The transition defense was mildly tolerable and there were a handful of complete defensive possessions, a welcome sight.
The Suns only led by four at halftime because it was far from perfect, but my goodness was it huffs and huffs of fresh air to see the type of basketball that has gotten away from them for the last three months. To keep it a buck with you and go first person to do so, I could care less when deciphering the who, what and why of that happening. Whatever got into Phoenix for that first half needs to be bottled up, stored and reused the rest of the season.
That tone was completely abandoned for the rest of the game, cratering optimism that it stumbled onto something.
The Suns scored 41 points in the third quarter, only to give up 43. Mix-ups off the ball and a total lack of resistance on it let Memphis get an easy 43 at that, all through a horrific performance by star point guard Ja Morant. This was the portion of Suns games that has become a tradition, the stretch in which it feels like they can’t miss while also showing an inability to swing that into a big advantage.
Right on cue, Memphis across 1:43 of the late third quarter went on a 13-1 spurt supercharged by deplorable Suns turnovers and defense to turn a 10-point Suns lead into a two-point edge for Memphis to make this a high-wire act the rest of the night.
The Grizzlies clearly responded at halftime with boatloads of physicality, most of which pushed beyond the boundaries of what is allotted by officials. The whistles heavily trended in favor of Memphis despite this, the benefit teams that actually play that way all year will always get. The Suns attempted to dole out their own but failed to do so in a smart, balanced way, racking up foul calls.
Phoenix’s supernova offensive output to make up for the deficiencies was maintained to begin the fourth quarter, with 20 points less than five minutes in to get back to a six-point lead.
A three-possession sequence continued to tell us what direction we were heading. Memphis guard Desmond Bane walked into a pull-up 3 around a screen before Devin Booker burned the shot clock to swap three different Memphis defenders out on switches to take a tough 2 that did not fall. Morant then scored at the rim to tie the game.
After a Suns score and short wide-open floater miss by Memphis, the Suns missed three shots on the same possession that ended with Bane getting a rebound and drawing a foul for two free throws to tie it up again.
It was a teetering act on top of a dam that kept producing more and more cracks as we awaited an implosion at 3:58 to go. But instead, this was just one of those back-and-forth whirlwinds that would be decided by who was going to make more plays through the mess. Across that time, Memphis’ Jaren Jackson Jr. and Booker would both foul out.
Multiple 1-of-2 trips to the foul line when the Suns were up three with under 30 seconds left allowed Morant to drill a leaning double-clutch 3 and tough leaning middy to tie the game for OT at 1.2 seconds left, when Kevin Durant got a good look (to his standards) on a baseline fadeaway at the buzzer that did not go down.
Phoenix actually did not collapse in overtime initially.
A terrific on-ball stop by Bradley Beal on Morant and Durant middy put the Suns ahead by four with 1:17 left, only for Memphis to work the ball up and inexplicably find great 3-point shooter Santi Aldama wide open on the wing for a 3. Bol Bol then turned it over and a Morant miss was tipped in by Memphis’ Brandon Clarke. A bad call on a Suns moving screen led to Phoenix having to foul, but in pursuing that and perhaps a steal too, they allowed the Grizzlies to get an open dunk and go up 151-148 at eight seconds left for another iteration of free-throw shenanigans.
Durant attempted to evade that by getting a quick 3 up off the inbounds pass that wasn’t close, and a deflection on the rebound out of bounds confused officials enough to call for a jump ball. Bol won that and Phoenix called timeout at 2.7 on the clock, giving Durant another look off a broken play that he missed for the end of the ball game.
The Suns shot 53.5%, made 21 3s and had 39 assists. Grayson Allen (21 points), Beal (24), Booker (28), Bol (23) and Durant (26) all cracked 20-plus. Beal (11 assists), Booker (10) and Durant (7) combined for 28 assists on their own. If they would have played anywhere close to the defense in the first half that they did in the second, the offense would have been more than enough for a comfortable win.
Points off turnovers were 23-7 Memphis, a tale as old as time.
An under-discussed subplot in the Western Conference this year has been the play of Morant.
Before his suspension and injury last year, Morant was set for superstardom, garnering a huge following with the younger NBA fanbase more than any other up-and-coming player in the league. Two years ago, he had 11 games with at least 25 points and 10 assists, the season before he was Second Team All-NBA. He’s been perfectly fine this year but nowhere near an All-Star level, let alone All-NBA or the best point guard in the league.
It was really noticeable on Tuesday how far away he is from those heights, which does not bode well for Memphis in the postseason despite all the outstanding traits it has. He entirely relied on the whistle late to score 15 of his 29 points in the fourth quarter, shooting 14-of-14 from the foul line and 7-of-25 (1-for-12 on 3s) from the floor.
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