Phoenix Suns: Turnovers, giving up 3s and Beal's nose; what else we learned in loss at Atlanta Hawks

ATLANTA — Dominate.

That’s the word Phoenix Suns coach Frank Vogel used in describing their approach to this seven-game road trip that began with an impressive win at Dallas followed up by back-to-back losses to Indiana and Orlando in which they wilted in the fourth quarter.

The Suns responded with two straight wins at Miami and Brooklyn to set the table to finish the marathon trip facing two sub .500 teams Friday at Atlanta and Sunday at Washington.

Win those two, Phoenix would be sitting 10 games above .500, a major achievement when considering the new-look roster that dealt with multiple injuries under a new coaching staff.

The Atlanta Hawks didn’t allow that to happen.

Hitting 17 shots from 3 and scoring 21 points off 17 Phoenix turnovers, the Hawks (21-27) exploited the Suns' weaknesses in handing them a 129-120 loss before a crowd of 16,536 at State Farm Arena.

Now the Suns (28-21) will look to finish the trip with at least a winning record on Sunday, as they face the lowly Wizards (9-39), who have the second-worst record in the league next to Detroit.

Here’s what we learned from Friday’s loss, as the Suns lost despite scoring 60 points in the paint and 23 fast-break points.

Quick numbers

Kevin Durant scored a game-high 35 points to lead the Suns as all five starters reached double figures. Devin Booker added 24.

Atlanta's Trae Young went for a team-high 32, hitting 7-of-11 from 3 while Bogdan Bogdanovic came off the bench to score 23 points. He connected on 4-of-7 deep ones.

Bradley Beal’s nose hindering his play

Beal is trying not to make excuses, but he found himself bleeding from the nose after taking a hit on it in the first half on a foul.

Tough guy, my friends. Tough guy.

He said after the game players have shot the ball well wearing a mask. He played with one from a broken nose during his playing days with the Wizards in the 2015-16 season.

His coaches and teammates are quick to come to his defense. He posted a double-double of 14 points and 10 assists, but turned the ball over four times, shot 5-of-16 and didn’t make a three on seven attempts.

Since he returned in the fourth quarter at Indiana from going down after taking an elbow from Myles Turner, Beal is an (ugh) 20-of-63 from the field overall (31.7%), making only two out of 26 3s.

Two. Wow.

Beal has missed 24 games this season with back issues and an ankle sprain. His toughness can’t be questioned, but what can be is whether Beal should be playing.

No way he’s missing Sunday’s return game to Washington, where he spent 11 seasons. He’s the second all-time leading scorer in franchise history and has the record for most 3-pointers made.

D.C. is his home. The fans will give him his flowers, but after that one, he might want to consider sitting out a game just to further find out if the mask can be improved.

What happened on Eric Gordon’s late 3?

The Suns had already started the game without much sense of urgency.

The Hawks were cooking them from deep as Young led the 3-point barrage. They failed to bring the physicality on defense they displayed against Brooklyn.

The game was late in the fourth with the Hawks up seven, but Eric Gordon’s 3 with 2:41 left gave them a little bit of hope.

Enter the NBA replay center in Secaucus, N.J.

Any field goal made close to the 3-point line are reviewed with one of the review triggers being did a player jump from out of bounds on their shot.

The replay concluded that Gordon was jumped from out of bounds on the 3.

Huh?

By the time the PA announcer told everyone in the arena Gordon’s 3 was taken off the board and Dejounte Murray made two free throws, the Suns trailed by nine with 2:24 remaining.

The game isn’t over, but it’s not a good look for the Suns.

Gordon said after the game he was in his usual spot on a corner 3, but added if he was out of bounds, it’s OK for him to jump back in, set his feet and shoot.

There lies the conundrum.

The toughest part of this rule is it takes away momentum from the team that’s on the wrong side of it. You look up and see the scoreboard literally change.

That can be demoralizing. The Suns still had time, but the replay has never been able to make the change on the spot. That’s why it’s called a review.

Booker’s importance

Yeah, he picked up his fourth foul with 1:04 left in the third with Phoenix up two, 95-93.

Booker felt Dejounte Murray hooked him a little bit and sold the call, but he took ownership of the first three fouls. Still, if a guy collects his fourth in the third quarter, they usually come out the game.

Wonder if Vogel is second-guessing that now.

Josh Okogie replaced Booker to give the Suns a lineup of Eric Gordon, Keita Bates-Diop, Drew Eubanks and Beal, who is dealing with the nose.

Durant was taking his usual rest at the end of the third.

Vogel is thinking the Suns can hold on a minute and change right? Not this time.

The Hawks closed the quarter on a 7-0 run to take a 100-95 lead going into the fourth. They never trailed after that.

Maybe Vogel reinserts Booker to begin the fourth, but then that’s not showing confidence in the guys on the court. Besides, Durant checked back in at the start of the fourth.

By the time Booker returned with 9:28 remaining in the game, Phoenix trailed by nine after a Murray layup forced Vogel to call a timeout.

Booker has talked about the need to have at least two of the Big 3 on the court. Vogel didn’t think that was necessary at that point in the game.

Turns out it was. See if Vogel trusts Booker to play with four fouls when put in that situation again.

Injury update: Bol available, doesn’t play

Bol Bol is back from his right foot sprain that kept him out nine games, but hasn’t played in Phoenix's last two games. The 7-footer felt confident he could play Wednesday at Brooklyn, but Vogel said before the game he wanted him to get a “practice or two” in before playing him.

After not seeing action against the Nets, Bol played an hour of pickup ball Thursday and looked good, Vogel said.

Still, Vogel didn’t play Bol Friday, saying he was sticking to the frontcourt rotation of Josh Okogie, Keita Bates-Diop and Drew Eubanks to start, but would play Bol if needed.

The Suns were saying they were hopeful Bol played during the road trip. They have one more game left on it Sunday against the Wizards.

Grayson Allen returned after missing Wednesday's win at Brooklyn with a right ankle sprain suffered in the first half of Monday's win at Miami.

Up next — Beal returns to D.C. in road trip finale

Now it’s Beal’s turn.

This seven-game road trip has been a reunion tour of sorts for the Suns. Vogel coached against his former teams Indianapolis and Orlando. Durant faces his former team in Brooklyn as did Yuta Watanabe. Josh Okogie played in home Atlanta area against the Hawks.

Now, Beal will face his former team for the first time in Washington D.C. since the offseason trade that sent Chris Paul to the Wizards, who later dealt Paul to Golden State and got Jordan Poole in return.

Jordan Goodwin also played for the Wizards, but not nearly as long as Beal, who spent 11 seasons in D.C. Should be amemorable return for the three-time All-Star, who was a major fixture there.

The Wizards are 2-8 in their last 10 games as they have the second-worst record in the NBA behind Detroit. They removed Wes Unseld Jr. from his head coaching duties into a front office role last month and named Brian Keefe interim head coach.

The Wizards are 2-3 under Keefe, losing their last two to the Clippers and Heat.

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: Turnovers, 3s continue to haunt Phoenix Suns, lose at Atlanta Hawks