Over a quarter of a way into the season, the Suns’ trio of Kevin Durant, Devin Booker and Bradley Beal finally made its debut Wednesday in a 116–112 loss to the Nets. Here are three takeaways from the first night of the Durant-Booker-Beal experiment.
1. The star stagger was staggering. To get a sense of Phoenix’s top-loaded roster, with its three stars available, the minute totals were still very high. Durant played 38, Booker played 40, and Beal played 34—the latter two doing so on the second night of a back-to-back and, in Beal’s case, on just his second game back from a back injury. In the 19 minutes the three stars played together, the Suns were a whopping plus-12, with a 23.6 net rating. That’s great! The issue for Phoenix is it was a minus-20 in the eight minutes Booker was off the floor.
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Figuring out how to best separate the three stars between tip-off and the final few minutes will be priority one for Frank Vogel moving forward. With Durant and Beal, the Suns shouldn’t be so bad when Booker rests. Unlocking the right combination there will not only help the team be even more formidable, but it will also help Vogel better manage the minutes of what’s been an injury-laden group so far this season.
