A fatal third quarter for the Suns

It all started with a “spin move” from Deandre Ayton in the heart of the racket to fix the Suns defense. The former Phoenix pivot brought the ball out to Anfernee Simons at the head of the racket, who shifted to the wing towards Jerami Grant, who himself transmitted to Malcolm Brodgon, alone in the corner. The latter, thanks to this extra-passing game, could convert at 3-points.

And, in the middle of the third quarter, give back the advantage to his Blazers for the first time since the start of the match. A start dominated head and shoulders by the visitors, who already had a 16-point lead after twelve minutes (20-36), then another 12 at the break (49-61).

Only in the third quarter, the great mechanics of the Arizona players will be derailed. And the locals, led by Anfernee Simons, Jerami Grant or Malcolm Brogdon, will have no difficulty in getting back together, and even take the lead at the end of the period (87-81).

A loss of fluidity

Basically, the Blazers completed a quarter-time mirror to the first suffered by the Suns. “ We lost the third quarter 38 to 20, that's when we lost the match “, summarizes Frank Vogelwho adds: “ We were not able to respond to their series. It is a desperate team, which had seven defeats in a row, with players returning from injury. »

Certainly, but his team also self-scuttled during this period. “ We moved away from what worked. What worked was to compensate for each other, to keep the ball moving “, notes Drew Eubankswho still finds it difficult to explain why his team was not able to widen the gap.

Between Jusuf Nurkic who loses the ball by getting bogged down in the opposing defense before missing an open 3-point shot, a Kevin Durant who is sometimes reckless in his ball handling (5 lost balls)… The Suns lost fluidity on this period. “ They started to switch more. Our spacing got weird when Book (Devin Booker) and KD were at the head of the racket. This third quarter killed us “, Grayson Allen formula.

Do better on both ends of the court

“ Their defensive changes, from position 1 to 5, blocked us a little in attack. When you make saves, it only fuels the opposing team's attack », adds Nassir Little, who played against his former team. Evoking a defeat “ frustrating », Devin Booker believes that his team has things to resolve on offense. A better distribution of the score for example, since he and Kevin Durant (40 points) (26) scored more than 60% of their team's points.

“KD” thinks on the contrary that the Suns suffered on defense in this third quarter. “ We were blitzing the ball carrier on the pick-and-roll, which opened things up on the off-ball side. They were able to make one more pass. Brodgon is a top shooter, it's complicated to leave him open », he regrets.

Despite this disappointment, their coach Frank Vogel recalls that “ the season is long. We always learn things about the team, we want to win as much as possible. You have to keep your head high, be ready for the next match. We maintain confidence in our group. » A speech that smacks of the Coué Method.