Suns Get Honest on Latest Fourth Quarter Struggles

PHOENIX — The Phoenix Suns couldn't piece together a winning streak.

After dropping five straight games, the Suns found the win column on Sunday before hosting the Denver Nuggets on Tuesday night for a primetime battle at Mortgage Matchup Center.

Phoenix dug deep despite being down Ryan Dunn, Mark Williams and Dillon Brooks, ultimately coming back from eight points down with three minutes left to set Devin Booker up for a game-tying shot that was no good at the buzzer.

The Suns have now lost their last six-of-seven games with final deficits of eight points or less during that stretch.

"Boston, Toronto, I mean, on the road, second night of a back-to-back. We're playing really good basketball. Second quarter got away from us a little bit, and you got to find a way to do it for 48 minutes," Suns coach Jordan Ott said post-game.

"These guys execute to the highest degree possible. Those three guys (Aaron Gordon, Nikola Jokic, Jamal Murray) are in the middle of the floor and the game for a reason. They've been through it all. Seen it up close and personal for a while, so a great battle. Those guys have been through the wars. We're still a newer group, and we hung right there. So, I love the compete level, loved our togetherness. Just weren't able to pull it out.”

Phoenix now has nine games remaining on the regular season schedule with little chance to elevate themselves out of play-in territory. They're four games back of the Houston Rockets for the sixth seed.

Even with the slew of injuries, performance in clutch time has been a major talking point for this Suns team with the playoff around the corner.

“We’re just trying to get over the hump," Booker said post-game. "The majority of our losses in this stretch have been like that. Close game in the fourth quarter. We just have to keep growing, keep building and I think we’re competing hard. We’re just haven’t gotten over that hump.”

Suns guard Jalen Green added:

"Obviously you don't want to lose. You're not trying to lose. But I think Book (Devin Booker) said it best, we kind of dug ourselves a hole trying to get to that sixth seed. But right now it's just all trying. We just got to figure it out and go into playing playoffs, whatever the case may be, just learn, learn from each game and stay together."  

Phoenix is back in action on Saturday against the Utah Jazz.