The Phoenix Suns (35-26) hosted the Chicago Bulls (25-37) at Mortgage Matchup Center Thursday night.
The Suns were coming off back-to-back wins, while the Bulls had lost 12 out of their last 13 games.
“It’s not fun,” Bulls head coach Billy Donovan said. “No one likes doing that. No one likes it, and I wouldn’t say just myself; the players don’t like it either, and we’re trying to expedite a lot of things that probably needed to take place in training camp. We can’t make excuses. We got to try to solve problems as quickly as can.”
This put the Bulls 12th in the Eastern Conference, and they’d need to find their groove quickly if they wanted to make the play-in tournament.
As for Phoenix, they sat in seventh in the Western Conference, trying to climb into sixth to avoid the play-in tournament.
The Suns were without Mark Williams (foot), Jordan Goodwin (calf) and Dillon Brooks (hand).
“It just popped up yesterday,” Suns head coach Jordan Ott said regarding Williams’ injury. “When he came in, day in between games. Just had a little soreness, went to have an image and we saw the news. There wasn’t a moment where you can see it visibly. He’s dealing it like any professional athlete would when something you love is taken away.”
Brooks averaged 20.9 points per game for the Suns, while Williams led the team in rebounds, averaging 8.1 rebounds per game.
For the Bulls, it was only Jaden Ivey (knee) who was ruled out.
However, Patrick Williams (quadriceps), Jalen Smith (calf), Matas Buzelis (ankle) and Josh Giddey (ankle) were all on Game-Time Decision for Chicago.
Giddey was the most important for the Bulls, as he averaged 17.7 PPG, 8.2 RPG, and 8.4 assists per game, leading the team in all three departments.
Before the game though, Donovan confirmed that all four players were ruled out against Phoenix.
“Those guys at this point in time are day-to-day,” Donovan said. “I think there’s a lot of optimism for the next game, us having two days after this game tonight and Josh (Giddey) will be back, and Jalen (Smith) has a workout tomorrow, but optimistic that for Sacramento all those guys will be available.”
The Bulls had solid guards such as Collin Sexton and Anfernee Simons, but Giddey being ruled out would certainly take its toll.
“You kind of know who they are as players,” Donovan said. “For someone like Collin Sexton, for someone like Anfernee Simons, those guys got a pretty big body of work in the NBA. You kind of know who they are as players.”
As for the Suns, they had their star guard Devin Booker, alongside solid pieces, such as Collin Gillespie and Jalen Green.
“We do have a superstar that is extremely methodical,” Ott said. “Very smart and we want to get him the ball. We know our advantages offensively, howe we get to them, and then defensively, we got to get back.”
Booker averaged 24.6 PPG entering tonight’s contest.
Regardless, the Suns were pushing for a playoff spot while the Bulls were trying to find their winning ways.
Despite Williams being out, Oso Ighodaro was coming off an incredible game against the Kings, getting 14 points and a career-high 14 rebounds.
Williams’ injury also saw the possible opening for rookie Khaman Maluach off the bench, who had mostly been playing in the G-League to develop.
“It’ll have an opportunity for both,” Ott said. “It’ll have an opportunity for everyone just to continue to take the next step, next man up. Ready to go.”
Entering the second quarter, the Bulls had a 24-20 lead.
Despite the score being close, it was a struggle for both teams when shooting for three, as the teams combined for 3-for-22 from downtown.
Sexton led the Bulls in points with eight, while Rob Dillingham followed with six points.
As for the Suns, Booker led the way in scoring, while Ryan Dunn had five rebounds, with Maluach trailing him with four rebounds.
Entering the second half, the Bulls had a five-point lead.
“Some of the shot making didn’t go our way,” Ott said. “But that’s the game of basketball. At some point, you hope it breaks your way. Never quite got there and there’s just too many possessions we wasted early.”
Sexton had 16 points, with Tre Jones following him with 11 points.
Leonard Miller had five rebounds and four points, while Guerschon Yabusele had four rebounds and five points, as both players were looking for a double-double.
Booker led the Suns in points with 16 points, while Dunn was looking for a double-double, as he had five rebounds and four points.
Entering the fourth quarter, the Bulls had a six-point lead.
“Never good enough,” Ott said regarding the team’s ability to get to the rim. “We never get there quite good enough. We’re trying to get there, I think that’s where we’ll miss Mark a little bit, but we’re trying. In the fourth quarter, when we needed it the most and we’re going to find ways to get there.”
For the Suns, Booker led the way with 22 points, while Grayson Allen followed with 18 points.
For Chicago, Sexton had 24 points, followed by Tre Jones with 18 points.
Nick Richards of Chicago also had nine rebounds and was on the Suns before being traded in a three-team deal for Amir Coffey during the trade deadline.
With nine minutes left, the Bulls had a 90-79 lead, and because Phoenix had yet to even take a lead, alongside Chicago’s momentum, the game looked out of reach.
“Credit to them,” Ott said regarding the Bulls. “They play at a pace that is hard to keep up with. That’s what they’ve done and they’ve done it for multiple years. All season we have fed off of our defense creating offense.”
With three minutes left, Chicago led by only four, as Phoenix was looking to finish the comeback.
With 27.2 left, Jones went to the line after being fouled, with the Bulls up three, and made one.
Booker sunk a quick three, and with 22.2 seconds left, the Suns were only down one.
The Suns needed a defensive stop or a quick foul, as the shot clock had expired.
As Chicago inbounded the ball, they turned it over two seconds later.
With 20.1 seconds left, the Suns got the ball.
With the clock winding down, Green drove in for a layup, but missed, before Phoenix fouled Richards with 4.4 seconds to go.
Richards made his first but missed his second, and while the Suns tried to rebound it and called timeout, the Bulls were able to keep the ball alive, before letting the clock expire.
“This is the NBA,” Ott said. “Let it up to a 50/50 call, both ways and then trying to get a rebound, couldn’t grab a rebound.”
The Bulls hung on, winning 105-103.
For Chicago, Sexton led the way in scoring with 30 points, with Tre Jones trailing him with 21 points.
“Sexton has done this for years,” Ott said. “He finds ways to impact games by his overall tenacity and tougnhness, he did again tonight.”
As for Phoenix, Booker finished with 27 points, while Allen followed with 21 points.
The Phoenix Suns fall to 35-27 while the Bulls jump to 26-37.
