Game ID: 22300094
Utah Jazz @ Phoenix Suns
Saturday, October 28, 2023 at 10:00 PM ET
Footprint Center, Phoenix, AZ
Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Final
PHX 37 29 40 20 126UTA 27 23 28 26 104
PHX vs UTA ScoutingPHX vs UTA Scouting
Welcome to the scouting desk. The coffee is cold, the film is play-by-play, and somebody has to explain what happened.
Every game has a hinge — a stretch where it was decided, usually while everyone was watching something else. Start where the evidence lives: the Lineups' face-offs say which five actually won their minutes; the Possessions ledger says who ran ahead of the night's own pace; the Shot Chart says where the points really came from, which is rarely where the highlights were. When all three agree, that is the story. When they don't — that is why this desk has a chair.
PHX availability going into 10/24 · season opener
full strength
PHX availability going into 10/26 · 1 day's rest
full strength
PHX availability going into 10/28 · 1 day's restOUT Bates-Diop missed 2 since 10/24, returns tonight: 6 min (39% of 15)
OUT Metu missed 2 since 10/24, returns tonight: 3 min (21% of 12)
OUT Bol missed 2 since 10/24, returns tonight: 4 min (38% of 11)
PHX availability going into 10/31 · 2 days' restOUT Booker missed 2 since 10/26, out tonight
BACK Bates-Diop back 10/28 after 2, 6 min since (39% of 15)
BACK Metu back 10/28 after 2, 3 min since (21% of 12)
BACK Bol back 10/28 after 2, 4 min since (38% of 11)
NEW Okogie 16 to 29 min over the last 3
NEW Goodwin 14 to 23 min over the last 3
PHX availability going into 11/02 · 1 day's restOUT Booker missed 3 since 10/26, returns tonight: 35 min (97% of 36)
BACK Bates-Diop back 10/28 after 2, 6 min since (39% of 15)
BACK Metu back 10/28 after 2, 3 min since (21% of 12)
BACK Bol back 10/28 after 2, 4 min since (38% of 11)
NEW Okogie 16 to 29 min over the last 4
NEW Goodwin 14 to 21 min over the last 4
PHX availability going into 11/04 · 1 day's restOUT Metu missed 2 since 10/31, returns tonight: 5 min (41% of 12)
OUT Bol missed 2 since 10/31, out tonight
BACK Booker back 11/02 after 3, 35 min since (97% of 36)
BACK Bates-Diop back 10/28 after 2, 12 min since (78% of 15)
NEW Okogie 16 to 26 min over the last 5
NEW Watanabe 13 to 20 min over the last 5
PHX availability going into 11/05 · back-to-backOUT Bol missed 3 since 10/31, returns tonight: 3 min (24% of 11)
BACK Booker back 11/02 after 3, 35 min since (97% of 36)
BACK Bates-Diop back 10/28 after 2, 16 min since (104% of 15)
BACK Metu back 10/28 after 2, 4 min since (31% of 12)
NEW Okogie 16 to 25 min over the last 5
NEW Goodwin 14 to 19 min over the last 5
NEW Watanabe 13 to 21 min over the last 5
UTA availability going into 10/25 · season opener
full strength
UTA availability going into 10/27 · 1 day's rest
full strength
UTA availability going into 10/28 · back-to-back
full strength
UTA availability going into 10/30 · 1 day's restOUT Hendricks missed 2 since 10/27, out tonight
OUT Sensabaugh missed 2 since 10/27, out tonight
UTA availability going into 11/01 · 1 day's restOUT Hendricks missed 3 since 10/27, out tonight
OUT Sensabaugh missed 3 since 10/27, out tonight
UTA availability going into 11/02 · back-to-backOUT Hendricks missed 4 since 10/27, out tonight
OUT Sensabaugh missed 4 since 10/27, out tonight
UTA availability going into 11/04 · 1 day's restOUT Hendricks missed 5 since 10/27, out tonight
OUT Sensabaugh missed 5 since 10/27, out tonight
NEW Horton-Tucker 20 to 25 min over the last 5
10/24 @ GSW 108-104 — PHX notes
PHX won 108-104. PHX shot 44% (42 of 95) to GSW's 36%, 11 of 33 from three, and got to the line 17 times to GSW's 28. PHX turned it over 19 times to GSW's 11, and GSW turned those into 11 steals. The glass went 60-49 for them. Booker led with 32 (13 of 21, 3 of 8 from three); Durant added 18, Okogie 17. The hinge was Q2, 33-18: from level to 15 ahead.
10/26 @ LAL 95-100 — PHX notes
PHX lost 95-100. PHX shot 42% (34 of 81) to LAL's 43%, 9 of 31 from three, and got to the line 23 times to LAL's 29. Durant led with 39 (14 of 28, 1 of 5 from three, 10 of 13 at the line); Gordon added 15, Goodwin 14. Q1 was theirs, 30-18, but the other 3 periods went 82-65 against them. They led by as many as 12. Gordon's -27 in 30 minutes was the worst on the floor.
10/28 vs UTA 126-104 — PHX notes
PHX won 126-104. PHX shot 53% (45 of 85) to UTA's 44%, 10 of 37 from three, and went to the line 28 times to UTA's 14 — 26 points from the stripe to their 12. PHX turned it over 11 times to UTA's 18. Durant led with 26 (8 of 11, 1 of 4 from three, 9 of 9 at the line); Gordon added 21, Allen 17. The hinge was Q3, 40-28: a lead of 16 became 28, and the lead reached 33. Durant was the night's best plus/minus at +30.
11/05 @ DET — I Know, the desk before tip-off
Written before tip-off, from the five games each side brought in.
Detroit comes in 2-3 over its last five, scoring 112 a night and allowing 112, shooting 46 percent and 40 from three, 21 free throws a game; Cunningham at 21 and Burks at 18 a game. That is 3 straight losses. It has won the glass by 7 a night. Without Burks (2 straight). 2 days' rest. Phoenix comes in 1-4 over its last five, scoring 111 a night and allowing 113, shooting 47 percent and 36 from three, 25 free throws a game; Durant at 30 and Gordon at 15 a game. That is 3 straight losses. Second night of a back-to-back.
So: Detroit wins, and the game turns on the glass, where Detroit has been plus-7 a night and Phoenix minus-2 and the arc, Detroit at 40 percent from three to Phoenix's 36. Call it Detroit 113, Phoenix 109, Phoenix keeping it close.
10/25 vs SAC 114-130 — UTA notes
UTA lost 114-130. UTA shot 45% (41 of 91) to SAC's 46%, 9 of 28 from three, and went to the line 31 times to SAC's 20 — 23 points from the stripe to their 17. Clarkson led with 24 (8 of 16, 2 of 5 from three, 6 of 8 at the line); Markkanen added 19, Collins 15. Q4 was theirs, 27-25, the deficit cut from 18 to 16, but the other 3 periods went 105-87 against them. Dunn's -16 in 16 minutes was the worst on the floor.
10/27 vs LAC 120-118 — UTA notes
UTA won 120-118. UTA shot 44% (42 of 96) to LAC's 53%, 16 of 41 from three, and got to the line 22 times to LAC's 28. Markkanen led with 35 (12 of 23, 5 of 13 from three, 6 of 6 at the line); Olynyk added 15, Collins 13. The hinge was Q2, 30-24: a lead of 3 became 9. Markkanen was the night's best plus/minus at +11.
10/28 @ PHX 104-126 — UTA notes
UTA lost 104-126. UTA shot 44% (40 of 91) to PHX's 53%, 12 of 37 from three, and got to the line 14 times to PHX's 28. UTA turned it over 18 times to PHX's 11, and PHX turned those into 10 steals. Markkanen led with 19 (7 of 13, 5 of 7 from three); Sexton added 14, Fontecchio 13. Q4 was theirs, 26-20, the deficit cut from 28 to 22, but the other 3 periods went 106-78 against them. Collins's -28 in 28 minutes was the worst on the floor.
Who is who
the initials in the Players column
UTACS C. Sexton
JC J. Clarkson
JC J. Collins
KD K. Dunn
KG K. George
KO K. Olynyk
LM L. Markkanen
LS L. Samanic
OA O. Agbaji
OY O. Yurtseven
SF S. Fontecchio
TH T. Horton-Tucker
WK W. Kessler
PHXBB B. Bol
CM C. Metu
DE D. Eubanks
EG E. Gordon
GA G. Allen
JG J. Goodwin
JN J. Nurkić
JO J. Okogie
KB K. Bates-Diop
KD K. Durant
NL N. Little
NU Nurkic
SL S. Lee
UA U. Azubuike
YW Y. Watanabe
UTA/PHX the team itself, not a player
-- the feed named nobody
What
What happened
the codes in the Events column
M2 / M3 made 2 / made 3
X2 / X3 missed 2 / missed 3
FT / X1 free throw made / missed
AST assist
OR / DR offensive / defensive rebound
STL steal
BLK block
TO turnover
FL foul
OF offensive foul — ends the possession
VIOL violation
JUMP jump ball
TM timeout
IR instant replay
HE heave at the buzzer, filed to the team
END the clock ran out, ball in hand
Where
Where a shot came from
the middle field of M3.LW.25
RM at the rim inside 4 ft
RC right corner
RW right wing
SO straight on
LW left wing
LC left corner
M3.LW.25 made 3, left wing, 25 ft
X2.RM.01 missed 2, at the rim, 1 ft
When
When it happened
the Offset column
one number per event, in the Events order:
whole seconds from the start of the
possession to that event
Events FL X3.RC.23 OR M2.RM.01
Offset 0 18 22 24
the foul opens the possession at 0s;
the putback ends it at 24s, which is
the possession's own Dur
Kevin Durant scores 26 points as the Suns easily handle the Jazz 126-104
PHOENIX -- — Grayson Allen cut into the lane before rising up and flushing an unexpected one-handed jam in traffic, pushing the Phoenix lead to 30 points midway through the third quarter.
Two-thirds of the Suns' star trio was out with injuries on Saturday night, but the supporting cast showed it can put up some numbers, too.
Kevin Durant scored 26 points, Eric Gordon added 21 and the Suns easily handled the Utah Jazz 126-104.
“Tonight was one of those nights that we moved in the right direction,” Durant said.
The Suns dominated the majority of the game, never trailing after the first few minutes. They opened a 16-point lead by halftime and led by 30 midway through the third quarter after Allen brought the crowd to its feet with his jam .
Phoenix's star trio was a solo act on Saturday, and Durant provided a methodical 8-of-11 shooting performance. The 13-time All-Star hit all nine of his free throws and dished seven assists. Devin Booker (ankle) missed his second straight game and Bradley Beal (back) has missed all three games this season.
Durant played just 29 minutes, watching from the bench as the Suns enjoyed their comfortable lead.
First-year Suns coach Frank Vogel said he's pleased that the team is also executing on the defensive end of the floor. Utah shot just 44% from the field.
“They're executing our scheme at a pretty high level, and they're doing it with a great deal of effort, hustle and scrappiness, which is what we're asking them to do," Vogel said. “We know we have elite talent on this basketball team, and if the effort piece is greater than our opponent, we're going to be really tough to beat."
Allen added 17 points, while Jusuf Nurkic had 10 points, seven rebounds and six assists. Phoenix poured in 40 points in the third quarter to put away the game.
“Grayson got it going in the third, and we were able to move off of one another,” Durant said. “That's what basketball is all about. It's an exciting win and hopefully we can build on this.”
The Jazz had 19 turnovers in a sloppy performance. Lauri Markkanen had 19 points, making five 3-pointers. Collin Sexton scored 14 points over the bench while rookie Keyonte George , the 16th overall pick out of Baylor, added 12 points, seven rebounds and six assists.
“I think there were moments when our bodies were a little slow,” Jazz coach Will Hardy said. “We weren’t able to make up for that because we did not do a good enough job with our brains and our mouth communicating.”
Phoenix took a 66-50 lead at halftime after shooting 54% from the field. Gordon scored 21 points in the first half on 9-of-12 shooting, including 3 of 6 from 3-point range. Durant added 14 points and five assists.