Even a hot start couldn’t keep the Suns ablaze as they were smothered by the San Antonio Spurs at Phoenix Suns Arena, Saturday evening.

Beautiful passing by the Spurs and the choice to live and die by the 3-pointer contributed to the Suns season-low 85 point performance.

While most of the Suns offense comes from Chris Paul and Devin Booker’s ability to consistently make mid-range jump shots, their hot streaks of pummeling the opposition from 3-point land has been the key to putting teams into a deficit they can’t climb back from.

Phoenix was 6-27 from the perimeter, a gruesome 22.2%, while the Spurs raked in 36 points, shooting 41.4% from beyond the arc.

“This one is in the past. There is nothing we can do about it. All we can do is look forward to tomorrow and take the feeling that we have from tonight, that anger, and take it out on the next team we play,” Suns point guard Javon Carter said.

Carter has contributed in recent games with the 3-ball and looks to continue getting his shooting confidence back.

Known for his defense, Carter has proven recently that his 3-point ability is an underrated skill. He has been either the top 3-point scorer or tied for first over the last three games, shooting 50% (9-18) from the arc.

Meanwhile, Suns shooting guard Devin Booker, a player known for his ability to shoot the three, had only one attempt against the Spurs and wasn’t able to convert.

“So we get on the plane tomorrow — season keeps moving on,” Booker said.

This is precisely how the Suns need to approach the loss.  Especially since they have two of their biggest games coming up this week.

With road trips to Milwaukee and Philadelphia, they will be facing two of the toughest teams in the Eastern Conference.

A disappointing loss might have been exactly what the Suns needed.  As some of their shortcomings were exposed, it should give them something to sharpen before they square off against the Bucks and Sixers.