The Suns don’t seem willing to take their foot off the accelerator. The reigning champions of the West took a victory from Salt Lake City this morning by beating the Jazz 97-105, thus chaining eight consecutive wins that make them continue to consolidate as leaders of the competition. Those led by Monty Williams, with a balance of 38-9, are already 3.5 games ahead of the Warriors, their closest pursuers, and their current dynamic suggests that this distance can continue to grow.
Except for the 2-0, as the first basket of the game was by the Jazz, the Suns dominated the game from start to finish, largely due to their great start. From the hand of a sensational Devin Booker, who scored 21 points in the first quarter, the Arizonans signed an 18-39 run that gave them an important advantage from very early on. However, the local squad was able to react and tighten the duel in the second quarter, but never fully recovered or snatched the lead from Phoenix.
Booker, who finished with 43 points, prevented that from happening, because although after his hectic start he went through phases of ups and downs, he managed to appear in the final stretch to seal the victory. Utah had tightened the scoring and dreamed of a comeback (92-94), but several consecutive actions by Devin opened up enough distance to keep their team in front. Also important in this section was Chris Paul, who also added several of his 21 points when the Jazz pressed and once again demonstrated his ability to be decisive in the clutch.
The Suns thus overcame a night in which they had significant casualties such as DeAndre Ayton, Jae Crowder or Cameron Payne, although the support of newcomer Bismack Biyombo, who finished with 12 points and 6 rebounds, helped to a certain extent. compensate for this situation. However, more notable were the absences of the Jazz, who could not count on Donovam Mitchell and Rudy Gobert but still offered a more than worthy image in different sections.
Jordan Clarkson, with 26 points, was largely responsible for his men reaching the end with options, as his scoring ability lifted Snyder’s men after their poor start. The guard had the support of Mike Conley and Hassan Whiteside, authors of 16 points each, who reached the double-double thanks to adding 10 assists in the case of the point guard and 11 rebounds in the case of the center.
Despite everything, those from Salt Lake City ended up adding their third consecutive loss, a streak that continues to move them away from the highest area of the Western Conference and dangerously close to their pursuers. The Mavericks, who arrive at a great time, are already 2 games behind Utah, who cannot rest on their laurels if they do not want to see their seeded status threatened for the playoffs.
(Cover photo: Alex Goodlett/Getty Images)
