CHICAGO — Right now, for the Phoenix Suns, every game is a must-win.
“We have to be honest,” coach Mike Budenholzer said after the Suns snapped a four-game losing streak with a 121-117 win against the Bulls on Saturday. “We got to win this game tonight. We’ve got to build off it. We’ve got to find ways to get wins, and our guys know that and they think they have the right mindset.”
Entering the season, Phoenix looked to rebound after falling short of its championship goals. Swept in the first round of the playoffs by the Minnesota Timberwolves, the Suns parted ways with Frank Vogel and brought in Budenholzer, a two-time NBA Coach of the Year and their third head coach in three seasons.
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But even with the change at the helm, Phoenix has underperformed. The Suns were supposed to be a contender in the West. Currently 11th in the Western Conference, the Suns never imagined being outside of the Play-In at 27-29 with the final stretch of 24 regular-season games ahead of them.
Coming off a 120-109 loss Thursday at San Antonio, Phoenix needed to refocus against a struggling Bulls team. Ahead of the game, Budenholzer moved Tyus Jones to the bench and Bradley Beal back into the starting lineup.
In the first quarter, Phoenix missed its first seven attempts and trailed by as many as 12. It ended the quarter shooting an abysmal 7 of 24 (29.2 percent) from the field and 2 of 10 (20 percent) beyond the arc. Instead of looking like the better of the two teams, the Suns appeared about equal with a Bulls team that was on a five-game losing streak.
“We talked out a lot of stuff we wanted to do offensively. We kept the game simple,” Suns forward Kevin Durant said. “I feel like we missed a lot of easy looks in San Antonio and even some tonight.”
In the second quarter, though, Phoenix was scorching. Down 10 entering the quarter, the Suns shot 16 of 21 from the field, including 3 of 5 from deep, scored 40 points and entered the locker room at halftime leading by two.
Despite getting out to a fast start and a double-digit lead in the third, thanks to a combined 22 points from Devin Booker and Beal, the Suns managed to take only a slim 3-point lead into the final quarter.
That lead ballooned to 10 less than two minutes into the fourth, but the Bulls clawed their way back into the game, tying it at 111 on a Coby White bucket and free throw with a little more than two minutes left. With 1:08 left to play, fans at the United Center were on their feet with hopes a young, pesky Bulls team — which was without an injured Ayo Dosunmu — could pull off an upset. But the Suns were able to close it out thanks to clutch free throws from Durant and a pull-up 3 from Booker.
The bulk of the responsibility for the failure or success of the season lies with the Suns’ big three of Beal, Booker and Durant. And in Chicago, despite it looking a bit shaky late, they delivered.
“I thought the guys had a good mindset coming in,” Budenholzer said. “I hope that the ball movement, player movement’s always good. Tonight it might have been a little bit better. They started double-teaming Kevin late, I thought he moved it well. Devin drove it off the double-team.
“So, you know, some good stuff that hopefully we can build off of.”
In their third of five straight road games, the trio of Durant (27 points, 10 rebounds, five assists), Booker (29 points, eight assists, four rebounds) and Beal (25 points, six rebounds, four assists) scored 25 or more points each for the second time this season with Beal in the starting lineup. It was the first time the Suns won with all three in the starting lineup together since Jan. 31.
“I think if we can get the right rhythm, find the right opportunities offensively and have all three of those guys be aggressive and attack, I think that’s when we potentially can be at our best,” Budenholzer said.
“We’re always kind of looking and trying to figure out the best combinations, the best groups. We keep trying and we keep mixing it up, and sometimes there’s injuries, but (Beal’s) been good. We wanted to try it and look at it and feel like that’s gonna give us our best chance.”
Devin Booker, you are indeed 1 of 1. pic.twitter.com/Xf7Deichri
— Phoenix Suns (@Suns) February 22, 2025
It wasn’t the most dominant win, but it was enough to give the Suns a much-needed boost of confidence as they head to Toronto for the second game of a back-to-back Sunday night. With games against the Grizzlies and Timberwolves on the horizon, Phoenix will need to take its momentum from the win in Chicago and level up if it plans to make up any ground in the standings.
“Just keep grinding and keep communicating with each other when we’re out on the floor,” Durant said. “Everybody here wants to win, regardless of what our record is, regardless of how bad we’ve been playing.
“Each game, we want to go out there and play our best ball. I love being with the group, especially after adversity and then we get a win.”
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(Photo of Kevin Durant: David Banks / Imagn Images)
