'Can't make excuses': Bradley Beal talks Suns defensive priority, offensive execution, his health
Phoenix Suns' star guard Bradley Beal’s routine between leaving the practice facility after shootaround and heading to the arena usually stays consistent, with his three sons being the biggest variable.
“If my kids are home, then I’m probably interacting with them a little bit more,” Beal said. “If they’re at school, it stays the same.”
Right now, they’re on holiday break, leaving Beal, the father, to answer questions about video games.
“They’re on Nintendo Switch for Christmas,” a smiling Beal said. “Every time I come home, ‘Daddy show me how to play the game, show me how to do this.’ That’s where a lot of my time goes to now.”
The Republic sat one-on-one with Beal after Friday’s morning shootaround to discuss facing the Miami Heat at Footprint Center, his health, team expectations and more.
Facing Miami Heat
The Suns (18-16) were ninth in the West heading into their Friday night matchup versus the Heat (20-14), who were fourth in the East. This is their first meeting of the season.
“Our effort on defense,” Beal said. “That’s always going to be the first, the biggest concern going into a game every night. Making sure we’re attentive to the details we need to do to guarding the ball and making it easy for ourselves offensively.”
The Heat were without Jimmy Butler (foot) and Haywood Highsmith (concussion protocols) while Caleb Martin was listed as doubtful with a right ankle sprain. Miami is 16th in offensive rating and 11th in defensive rating. Phoenix is 11th in offensive rating and 18th in defensive rating.
Turnover prone
The Suns are not only 24th in the NBA in turnovers per game, but 26th in points allowed off turnovers. They came into the season without a true point guard, leaving Devin Booker to take on that role, but also believing they could compensate by having multiple ball handlers.
That latter idea hasn’t prevented the Suns from being careless with the ball.
“We’ve got to slow down a little bit,” Beal said. “Make the simpler play. I think sometimes we try to play in too much traffic. We don’t just make the simple play whether it’s a pass over here or hitting a big or whatever it is, or make the extra pass. We maybe take one dribble too much or get too far in the paint without spraying it out.”
‘Holding up really good’
Friday is Beal’s fifth game back after returning from a right ankle sprain suffered Dec. 15 against the New York Knicks.
Having low back issues led him to missing most of the start of the season as Beal had only played in 10 games this season for his new team prior to Friday's game. The Suns acquired Beal in an offseason blockbuster trade that sent Chris Paul to Washington, which later dealt Paul to Golden State and got Jordan Poole in return.
He’s averaging 16.1 points on 46.8% shooting (32.4% from 3), but has posted three straight 20-point games as he scored a season-high 25 on 10-of-13 shooting in Sunday's win over Orlando.
“It’s holding up good,” Beal said when asked about his injuries. “Holding up really good. Like I said, I’m just happy to, one, be back on the floor. I’m just getting my rhythm back. Been back three or four games. I’m just happy to be in a nice little rhythm. Continue to build on that and get better.”
’15 guys for a reason’
Phoenix has talked about being healthy, specifically its Big 3 of Devin Booker, Kevin Durant and Beal, for the postseason, but if the playoffs started today, the Suns would have to win twice in the play-in just for the eighth and final seed in the West.
Health is a priority, but so are wins.
“We have to improve as a group,” Beal said. “What we have is what we have. We can’t make any excuses for guys being out. Hell, I missed 20, 30 games. Book and K have probably missed a handful of guys. A lot of guys have been in and out of the rotation, too.”
The Suns have had 15 different starting lineups and 13 players miss a total of 103 games. The Big 3 of Booker, Durant and Beal have only played four games together. Phoenix is 2-2 in those games.
“We know what that is,” Beal continued. “We don’t have to address that big elephant all the time, but we have 15 guys for a reason. Everybody has to be able to step up and contribute and contribute to us winning. It’s always the next man up mentality.
"Yeah, we wish everybody healthy, but reality is reality. You can only go off what’s happening now. We have guys. Hopefully K goes tonight, but if he doesn’t, it’s next man up again. We still have the expectation to win. I think that’s what propels us, but I think that’s where our expectations come in because we know we’re a deep team. We have the depth, we have the pieces. It’s just a matter of us putting it together and getting wins.”
Have opinions about the 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: Phoenix Suns can't make excuses for players missing games, says Bradley Beal
