Dillon Brooks says Suns ‘stagnant’ during back-to-back loss to Nuggets

PHOENIX – Back to back in the NBA is not easy, just ask Phoenix Suns. After falling to the Denver Nuggets 130-112 on Saturday, it was a long 24 hours before that.

To begin with, The Suns played in Oklahoma City against the Thunder on Friday, then returned to Phoenix at 2:00 a.m. the next morning for Saturday’s contest.

In the first half against Denver, the Suns’ competitiveness resulted in a 63-60 deficit at the end of the second quarter. But as soon as the second half started, that’s when everything eroded.

Denver started to hit their shots, thanks to Tim Hardaway Jr., but they just had more juice than Phoenix, which was impressive, considering they were back-to-back as well.

In that second half, the Suns were outscored 77-52. A lot of it had to do with the extension of Nikola Jokić’s playmaking. His 10 assists were a game high and an indication of how lethal he is as an offensive initiator.

Still, the Nuggets’ defensive disruption stifled Phoenix’s chances to establish any rhythm. In the team’s locker room after the game, Brooks explained what did his team do wrong which fueled Denver’s spark.

“I would say it’s stagnant a little bit,” Brooks said. “Trying to catch the ball, we didn’t do it. Offensive rebounding, possession play, probably, and we have to be more composed when they score.”

“We have to be able to counter the run and respond.”

Jordan Ott recognizes the Suns are stagnating

Shortly after Brooks spoke, only a handful of Phoenix players remained in the locker room. The area itself was steeped in fatigue, considering the team will play six games in nine days when they take on the Los Angeles Lakers on Monday.

With Grayson Allen back in the lineup, The sun could slowly regain its true strengthbut that can come if they can get adequate rest between games.

But a few hours before the game, head coach Jordan Ott spoke to reporters and said there were some difficulties, but he thought it would be a good test.

When the final buzzer sounded, he conceded that the test was necessarybut he knew where the sun fell.

“Yeah, we were stagnant in that zone. That’s what’s on my mind right now,” Ott said after the game. “That was a great effort. I thought earlier, we had great looks in the 3rd quarter. There were more possessions. We’re going to get a lot of really good looks. We’re a 3-point shooting team. That’s what we got and we’re going to continue to take the best shots available.

“Last night we got 44 of them (three-point shots), we got 42 of them. I’m sure a little bit of both. I’m sure we could have had some sessions where it was.”

The Suns will hit the road to take on the Los Angeles Lakers before they have three days off before traveling to Houston to take on the Rockets.