Undefeated?: Frank Vogel wants Phoenix Suns to win even with Devin Booker, Bradley Beal sidelined
CHICAGO – The Phoenix Suns haven’t played a regular season game with Bradley Beal, and Devin Booker has only seen action in two of them.
Maybe they should be okay with this 3-4 start.
Then again, maybe not.
“7-0, that’s what I would like to be, even with those guys out,” Suns coach Frank Vogel said.
The Suns (3-4) snapped a three-game skid Sunday at Detroit, and look to finish their three-game road trip with a win Wednesday at Chicago (3-5), but Vogel believes the Suns had a chance to win every game so far this season.
The Suns squandered a 12-point lead going into the fourth quarter of an 100-95 road loss at the Lakers, dropped consecutive home games to the Spurs and fell Saturday to the 76ers to start the road trip.
"Looks good, just got to make sure and see how he feels from the work today."
Frank Vogel on Bradley Beal (back).
Listed questionable. On track to play Wed. at Bulls.
Devin Booker (calf) out.
"He wants to be in there but he can tell when something is not quite right." #Suns pic.twitter.com/EgdKifIbPt— Duane Rankin (@DuaneRankin) November 7, 2023
Missed opportunities for the Phoenix Suns
“We lost two home games, feel like we should take care of our business and win those games,” said Vogel as the Suns blew a 20-point lead against the Spurs that ended with Keldon Johnson taking the ball from Kevin Durant and scoring inside over Josh Okogie with 1.2 seconds left of a 115-114 stunner.
In the rematch, Phoenix rallied back from a 27-point deficit to knot the game with 4:21 left in the fourth of Booker’s return from a left ankle sprain that sidelined him three games, but rookie phenom Victor Wembanyama scored 10 of his career-high 38 points in a 12-0 answer to pull out the 132-121 win.
“Lost the fourth quarter in L.A. that was really difficult,” Vogel continued. “I still feel like if we played better and harder in the Philly game, we would’ve won that game, too. Our expectation is going to be to win games when guys are out.”
The Suns trailed by two late in the third quarter of Saturday’s loss to Philadelphia before reigning MVP Joel Embiid hit a three to end the quarter, making the score 80-75, going into the fourth.
Phoenix proceeded to shoot 4-of-19 from the field in the fourth, going 2-of-10 from 3.
The Suns bounced back to top the Pistons, 120-106, in the second of a back-to-back as Kevin Durant scored a season-high 41 points. They can now even their record with a victory Wednesday.
Kevin Durant's point of view
“I’m not too happy or too sad about anything at this point in the season,” Durant said. “It is what it is. It’s professional sports. It’s the next-man-up mentality. The game is not going to stop because we got guys injured. We’ve got to keep playing. Other teams aren’t going to feel sorry for us because we got guys injured. So we’ve just got to keep playing.”
Beal is listed as questionable for Wednesday’s game, but he practiced Tuesday and is on course to make his Suns regular-season debut against the Bulls.
As for Booker, he’s ruled out Wednesday as he didn’t practice, but he did some light shooting at the end of Tuesday’s practice. He was wearing a black sleeve on his right leg during media viewing after practice.
“I wouldn’t predict the injuries to happen, but you can’t rule it out, stuff like that goes on,” Durant said. “I'm just proud of the guys and how everybody is rallying around each other, trying to make adjustments. Once everybody comes back and we'll be at full strength, you'll see our real team.”
Have opinions about current state of the Suns? Reach Suns Insider Duane Rankin at dmrankin@gannett.com or contact him at 480-787-1240. Follow him on X, formerly Twitter, at @DuaneRankin.
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This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: '7-0': Frank Vogel wants Phoenix Suns to win even with Booker, Beal sidelined
