Game Recap: Suns look outmatched, drop to Kings 94-76

The Phoenix Suns did not show up tonight.

The Phoenix Suns finally got the whole squad on the floor together. Rasheer Fleming made his debut after missing the first two games of Summer League.

The excitement of everyone’s availability was short-lived due to the actual product on the court. Summer League basketball at its finest.

We had to wait a bit longer for tipoff, as the original 7 pm (AZ time) was delayed by well over 45 minutes.

The starting five for the Suns: Collins, Brea, Dunn, Ighodaro, Maluach.

Game Flow

First Half

The Summer Suns’ opening score came off a Khaman Maluach tip-in off a Brea missed three. That was followed up with a Ryan Dunn putback slam and triple in consecutive possessions to give Phoenix a 7-2 advantage.

The Suns’ offense cooled down a bit after the strong start. Dunn poured in 7 quick points, but the rest of the team shot just 3 for 12 to open the game.

Rasheer Fleming’s first bucket of his (Summer) Suns career was a catch-and-shoot three. Splash.

After the first quarter of action, Phoenix trailed by one, 18-17. Nique Clifford led all scorers with 9, and Ryan Dunn had 7.

The Kings started off the second quarter on a 6-0 run to jump ahead to a 24-17 lead. Phoenix’s offense was sputtering — it was a rough watch as they shuffled different lineup combinations.

It looked more like an individual showcase, rather than a team effort. Typical Summer League stuff.

Maluach threw down an emphatic dunk and then followed it up by drawing a foul attacking the rim on the next possession.

After that, the Kings went on a 10-0 run to see their lead balloon to 12. Nique Clifford looked like the best player on the court as the Kings continued to run it up.

Second Half

The third quarter picked up right where we left off in the second quarter. The Kings were cooking, and the Suns looked incompetent.

Outhustled, outplayed, outcoached. All of the things. This Suns team is too talented to look like this. The guard play didn’t help, as they couldn’t get in sets and struggled with turnovers and making basic passes.

(Deep Breath, Exhales) It’s Summer League.

Rasheer Fleming showed some interesting stuff in the third, outside of that, it was a quarter to forget. Phoenix got outscored 31-15 in the third

Ryan Dunn opened the fourth quarter strong, giving the Suns a bit of life in an already-decided game. Koby Brea finally got on the board after a slow shooting start.

At least Dunn showed some fight.

This tweet sums up how this game felt. We expected watchable basketball at the very least with everyone available. Well, watchable for Summer League’s standards, which are low. It was not.

Ryan Dunn finished with 18 points on 6-8 shooting with 6 boards, 1 steal, and 1 assist in 22 minutes of action. Khaman Maluach posted 8 points and 5 rebounds on 3-9 shooting in 24 minutes. Fleming tallied 7 points in 14 minutes in his debut. Brea had a rough one, and he gets a pass after two gems to open his SL career.

If you watched this all the way through, just like me, I’m sorry for your suffering.

Up Next

The Suns take on the Wolves on Wednesday afternoon at the Pavilion on NBATV. Let’s hope this one is better.

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