NEW YORK — Phoenix Suns coach Mike Budenholzer isn’t seeing eye-to-eye with Tyus Jones on this one.
Budenholzer was asked pregame Sunday, April 6, about the Suns getting back to playing with energy and focus after Jones noted the Suns having been lacking in both areas as of late.
“I don’t know if I agree with him,” Budenholzer said. “I think we just got to play with each other. We've got to get in and out of actions. We've got to move together. We've got to cover for each other, do other things.”
Phoenix (35-42) faces the New York Knicks (49-28) Sunday at Madison Square Garden to end a three-game road trip.
The Suns came into the season with championship expectations, they but have fallen way short of playing at that level. They’re fighting just to land a spot in the play-in as they trail Sacramento and Dallas by two games for the 10th and ninth seed, respectively, in the Western Conference.
The 9-10 seed play with the winner playing at the 7-8 loser for the eighth seed in each conference. The Suns have lost five in a row after winning four in a row and coming off a 123-103 loss Friday, April 4, at defending NBA champion Boston.
Jones was rather candid after Friday’s loss about Phoenix’s chances to make the play-in.
“We can't afford to lose any games moving forward, honestly, when you're playing catch-up, but we've been saying that for a couple of weeks now,” Jones said. “Something has got to change. We've got to play better ball on both ends of the floor. The level we're playing at right now just isn't cutting it.”
Have opinions about the current state of the Suns? Reach Suns Insider Duane Rankin at dmrankin@gannett.com or contact him at 480-810-5518. Follow him on X, formerly Twitter, at @DuaneRankin.
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This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Suns coach doesn't agree with point guard over team's energy, focus
