PHOENIX — The Suns took care of business in a 134-109 win over the Utah Jazz on Saturday, a game where Phoenix put together a complete game like it should against a team in contention for a lottery pick.
The Suns did well forcing turnovers (14) and protecting the rim (seven blocks) for the most part. However, there were lapses at times that gave the Jazz easy baskets.
Phoenix had eight steals, about two off its average, and registered 29 assists.
The defensive intensity was something coach Jordan Ott emphasized pregame.
“You got to, as much as you can early on, impose your will, and that starts with our identity. It’s gonna be defense. It’s always gonna be defense with us,” Ott said pregame. “It’s gotta be right away. The longer you let it into the second half, into the fourth quarter, everyone has confidence the later you get into the game.”
Phoenix shot well from 3-point range to start the night and the only two players keeping Utah in the game were Kyle Filipowski and Brice Sensabaugh.
Jalen Green and Royce O’Neale were a combined 5 of 6 from deep through the first six minutes of the game. By the end of the first quarter, Devin Booker and Collin Gillespie were 0 for 5 from beyond the arc, and the rest of the team was shooting 57% (8 for 14).
Sensabaugh and Filipowski combined for 24 of the Jazz’s first 30 points, shooting 67% (10 of 15) while the rest of the team was 2 for 16 from the field.
Once the Jazz’s scoring duo was substituted out for the first time, the Suns went on an 18-2 run to extend their lead to 20 points.
Utah fought back to cut the deficit to 10, but then Phoenix responded with a 10-0 run to create some separation again.
The Suns went into the half with a 28-point lead, scoring a season-high 73 first-half points, and rode that to the finish line.
Sensabaugh and Filipowski combined for 36 of Utah’s 45 points at the break, and finished with 52 combined points.
Green continued his hot stroke from the field with 31 points, shooting better than 50% for the third time in the last four games. He added six rebounds and three assists.
Green has now shot 42% or better in nine of his last 13 games.
Booker had 26 points on 8-of-14 shooting, with eight assists and three rebounds. He was only 1 for 5 from 3-point range but made nine of his 10 free throws.
Oso Ighodaro was perfect from the field with 13 points. He added eight rebounds and two assists.
Grayson Allen had 19 points on 7-of-16 shooting, three rebounds and three assists, including the 1,000th of his career.
Gillespie was the only one to have so-called bad night. The Suns’ guard, who is seven 3s away from breaking the franchise’s single-season record, was 0-for-8 on the night, all coming from 3.
How does the Suns win affect their playoff positioning?
Tuesday’s loss to the Denver Nuggets put the Suns in a difficult position to try to get out of the play-in, but taking care of Utah on Saturday kept Phoenix’s chances of staying out of the play-in alive.
Since the Houston Rockets lost two straight to start the week, the Suns are 3.5 games behind the Rockets after Saturday’s win, and they face each other on April 7, the fourth-to-last game of the season.
However, Houston owns the season series (3-0) so it would win the head-to-head tiebreaker.
The Suns would need the Rockets to lose at least three of its final nine games, in addition to the head-to-head matchup, to have a chance to catch them for the sixth seed.
The Suns are also four games behind the Minnesota Timberwolves.
Conversely, the Los Angeles Clippers are just three games behind the Suns, so Phoenix needs to keep winning regardless to keep the seventh seed.
The Suns play the Memphis Grizzlies, who are another team already eliminated from the playoffs, on Monday to begin a four-game road trip, with the following two games against teams fighting for a spot in the Eastern Conference playoffs.
