Getty Image / Patrick McDermott
This is quite possibly a make-or-break season for the Phoenix Suns as the franchise has gone all-in to win an NBA Championship for the first time in its history.
It’s only one game, but things aren’t looking encouraging after an embarrassing game 1 loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves, 120, 95, on Saturday in the Western Conference Playoffs First Round. When you factor in their disappointing regular season given their star power, many are already writing off the Phoenix Suns as a failed experiment.
But, superstar Suns guard Devin Booker claims that that is an overreaction, especially after just one playoff game.
I asked Devin Booker about ignoring overreactions to Game 1 in series, and he brought up last year’s 0-1 start against the Clippers:
“I’m not saying we’re gonna win the next 4 games, but there was a lot of overreacting after we lost G1 to the Clippers. It’s just a series” pic.twitter.com/Tp4M5GLicq
— Gerald Bourguet (@GeraldBourguet) April 22, 2024
But, is it an overreaction? It is in the sense that it’s only one game, and they could easily turn it around. The classic phrase of “a series doesn’t start until the road team wins a game” can be applied, as the sixth-seeded Suns are in Minnesota for the first two games of the series.
But, this is a team with three players on max contracts in Booker, Kevin Durant, and Bradley Beal. Booker is 27, but the other two are on the wrong side of 30, and the team has limited options to improve the roster for next year.
They need to win right now, and it doesn’t look like they’re going to do that. This is a winnable series against a Timberwolves team that has no playoff pedigree, and they’re off to a terrible start.
Plus, the effort issues, which has been a critique all season long of the Suns, showed up on Saturday. They were out-rebounded 52-28. The Timberwolves are a good rebounding team, but that’s an inexcusable margin. It’s hard to win a game getting out-rebounded nearly 2-1.
Tuesday’s game between the Suns and Timberwolves isn’t a must-win, but it’s pretty close to it.