Day: February 22, 2025

The Phoenix Suns have moved guard Bradley Beal back into their starting lineup. Beal replaced guard Tyus Jones as a starter for the Suns game at the Chicago Bulls on Sunday.

Ahead of the game, Phoenix head coach Mike Budenholzer said he still values Jones, who will play a big role off the bench. The Suns coach was simply looking for a way to get his team going, as they have slipped to 11th place in the Western Conference and entered Sunday 1.5 games behind the Sacramento Kings for the final spot in the Play-In Tournament.

“He organizes us. He brings leadership, stability,” Budenholzer said. “He’s a point guard. He’s that guy that’s looking to get everybody involved. Has a comfort level with that spot. He’s been good.”

Beal was more efficient coming off the bench for the Suns. Overall, the veteran guard’s stats took a slight hit, as he played about two-and-a-half fewer minutes per game.

Steve Kerr is hopeful that his 33rd starting lineup for the season will be the one he is comfortable sticking with for the balance of the Golden State Warriors’ season. Kerr started Stephen Curry, Brandin Podziemski, Jimmy Butler, Moses Moody and Draymond Green.

“I imagine we will stay with this lineup,” Kerr said. “I hope so. Because we’ve had a million different starting lineups this year. It’d be nice to stick with this for the rest of the season.”

The lineup is small, but Kerr believes they make up for it other ways.

“I think it’s the best two-way starting group we can put on the floor,” Kerr said. “You get Moses’ shooting, you get BP’s playmaking to go with Steph and Jimmy. Then Draymond and Jimmy at the five and four defensively behind the play. We lack size, but we have a lot of brainpower back there.”

“I like it,” Butler said. “I do. You’ve just got some feisty individuals out there that’s fighting, scrapping on both sides of the ball, sharing the ball, scoring, getting stops. Small or not, we’re getting it done.”

After the Sacramento Kings blowout home loss to the Golden State Warriors on Friday, interim head coach Doug Christie called a meeting with his starters to address some concerns.

Chief among Christie’s issues was making sure his team understood the gravity of their situation. The Kings are battling for a spot in the Western Conference Play-In Tournament with several team.

Christie also addressed the team’s commitment to defense and their need to improve their communication. Included in this meeting were Domantas Sabonis, Keegan Murray, DeMar DeRozan, Malik Monk and trade deadline acquisition Zach LaVine. Christie hoped that my addressing his five starters that the message would filter down to the rest of the team, as well.