Booker called Suns’ Plumlee an “energetic” playmaker in the loss to the Kings

by Junna Base November 13, 2024

Jusuf Nurkic of the Phoenix Suns was sidelined with a right ankle injury during the second half of Sunday’s 127-118 home overtime loss to the Sacramento Kings.

He had trouble guarding All-NBA star Domantas Sabonis (20 points, 12 rebounds, five assists), but Mason Plumlee made things harder for Sabonis and easier for the Suns without Nurkic.

“I thought Mason did a good job filling in without Nurk,” Suns coach Mike Budenholzer said after the game. “It takes a bit of a team effort against Sabonis on the boards, but Mason was very good and tonight he was the best.” Same thing. He was good for us against Sabonis.”

Plumlee, a 12-year veteran backup, scored six points, season-highs of 11 rebounds and six assists, one steal and just one turnover in 26 minutes.

It was his best game in his first season with the Suns and his assist total was second only to Booker’s team-high 12.

“He’s full of energy,” Booker said. “It’s a pleasure to be on the floor with him.” He communicates at a high level. He runs like the point-center position and just makes sure everyone is in their place.”

Booker added that Plumlee was a “highly intelligent giant with a high IQ.”

Four of Plumlee’s six assists came in the second quarter, including the Suns’ first three FGs and a 3 from Booker in the final seconds of the half.

Two impressive straight dimes from Plumlee came in the opening minutes of the second quarter. The first was a fishy backdoor pass to Bradley Beal (team-high 28 points, eight rebounds) from the opposing wing. The second was when Plumlee was double-teamed by Trey Lyles and De’Aaron Fox and Ryan Dunn (eight points) threw a no-look pass behind his head to the weak side for a dunk.

“I’ve always been a good passer, so I just played a lot and just found people on the field,” Plumlee said. “The guys beat me in the pocket and I was able to get it to the weak side, the ATO (after a timeout) and some other things, but just play with the flow, just keep the ball moving.”

Plumlee, 34, joined the Suns in June as a free agent on a veteran minimum contract from the Los Angeles Clippers. Budenholzer said in October that Plumlee has been “super influential” as an off-ball playmaker, rebounder, screener, passer and pace-setter in transition.

The Duke product is averaging 4.4 points, 5.1 rebounds and 1.5 assists and leads the Suns with 68% shooting in 17 minutes per game. Additionally, his plus-21 is second on the team behind backup forward Royce O’Neale for plus-minus.

“He’s been known to do that,” Beal said. “Mason is a guy who gets to the point and drives it forward.” Big guys like that love to play fast. They are open to backdoor actions and DHOs (dribble handoffs).

“Bigs like that are really important to us guards because they love getting to the rim. They love being able to easily move on to the next action, so it benefits us. But his abilities have been doing this for a long time, 10-plus years, so none of this surprises me.”

Sabonis will definitely get his points. Budenholzer said before the game, in which Nurkic was questionable because of his ankle injury, that it would take a concerted effort to help defend against the league’s second-best rebounder.

Although Sabonis posted his ninth straight double-double (also the most in the league this season), Plumlee helped contain Sabonis late in the game.

Plumlee stripped Sabonis as he rallied for a post move in the zone, leading to a transition 3 from Allen as the Suns went on an 8-0 run midway through the third quarter. He later converted a 3-point play-off layup with an assist from Booker to give the Suns a 103-97 lead with 4:07 left.

Although DeMar DeRozan scored 16 of his game-high 34 points and took the lead in the fourth quarter, Plumlee held Sabonis to just one point, two rebounds, no field goal attempts in the fourth quarter – and Sabonis was fouled late.

“He’s a big, strong guy,” Plumlee said of Sabonis. “You put your attention on DeMar or De’Aaron, and then when you look back, he’s already gained ground and secured position for the rebound. “You have to beat him early and he’s a position rebounder. He’s not a jumper, so you have to win the war on the ground.”

The Suns didn’t win the war in the first meeting of their four-game regular season series against the Kings. But Plumlee definitely earned respect in the frontcourt battle against his Pacific Division rival.

(This story has been updated to add or change video.)

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