HOUSTON, TX – MARCH 21: Brothers Marcus Morris #15 and Markieff Morris #11 of the Phoenix Suns walk onto the court at the start of their game against the Houston Rockets at the Toyota Center on March 21, 2015 in Houston, Texas. ÃÂ (Photo by Scott Halleran/Getty Images)
Record: 7-8 (4-5 home, 3-3 away)
Streaks: four-straight wins, four-straight losses
Standings as of morning of Mar 1st: #10 in West, 1 game behind New Orleans for #9, 1.5 games behind Oklahoma City for #8
Standings as of morning of Apr 1st: #10 in West, 2 games behind New Orleans for #9, 4.5 games behind Oklahoma City for #8
Top Performers:
Scoring: Markieff Morris – 17.5 ppg
Rebounding: P.J. Tucker – 7.5 rpg
Assists: Eric Bledsoe – 6.1 apg
Steals: Eric Bledsoe – 1.7 spg
Blocks: Brandan Wright – 1.3 bpg
Summary:
On a positive note, the Suns had a better month in March than they did in February. On the negative side, they played under .500 ball (even at home, which is inexcusable) and all but eliminated themselves from the playoffs (mathematically they still have a chance, but realistically they don’t). The schedule didn’t help matters, as they played almost predominately playoff-bound teams in March, including the league’s two top teams, Golden State and Atlanta.
The Suns normally potent offense went limp in March, with them failing to crack triple-digits in scoring in 10 of their 15 games in the month, including their last five games. An injured Brandon Knight didn’t help matters (he missed nine games), but on the flipside he wasn’t playing well to begin with (only shot 32.4% for the month). Alex Len, Marcus Morris, Archie Goodwin, and Gerald Green also had abysmal shooting months.
But the real reason for the Suns swoon is their lack of talent. This team is starless, and that just won’t cut it in the Western Conference, where every playoff team (and many on the outside looking in) has a superstar or two residing on their roster. So when the schedule got thick with upper-echelon teams in March, the Suns couldn’t keep pace.
