The Phoenix Suns can now focus on the playoffs and look to complete the mission of winning an NBA championship.
The Suns finished the regular season with an 116-109 loss to the Sacramento Kings (30-52) before a sellout crowd of 17,071 at Footprint Center.
“Get our minds right,” Suns guard Landry Shamet said. “Kind of almost taking the necessary separation from it for a second. Be human, like (Coach Monty Williams) talks about sometimes. I mean we’ve won 64 games, it’s been a long regular season, dealt with a lot of stuff.”
The Suns (64-18) trailed by as many as 19 points, but got within three on a Shamet 3 with 20.3 seconds left in the fourth quarter.
Shamet scored a season-high 27 points, hitting 5-of-12 from 3, in starting for All-Star Devin Booker, but rookie Davion Mitchell sealed the game for Sacramento by making four straight free throws after Shamet’s 3.
Five Kings scored in double figures as Damian Jones, who played last season for the Suns, Justin Holiday and Donte DiVincenzo each scored 19 points.
“We just tried to end on a good note,” Mitchell said. “We didn’t try to go out there and throw the game just because it’s our last game of the season. We just tried to go out there and play hard and end the season on a good note.”
Mitchell posted a double-double of 18 points and 15 assists while former Suns wing Josh Jackson chipped in 12 off the bench.
“I just thought, No. 1, we played hard, we played unselfishly,” Kings interim head coach Alvin Gentry said. “It’s a nothing game for those guys but for us, just the idea of being able to play the name, the Phoenix Suns, everyone knows they’re the best team in the league. They’ve proven that with the way they’ve played and the record that they have. Now obviously they didn’t play a lot of their guys but that’s okay. For us, it’s learning, it’s baby steps. We have to continue on that path there and try to get to the point where we have been competitive against these guys.”
The Kings are the only team to beat the Suns twice at Footprint Center this season as the season series ended, 2-2.
“We did beat them here when they had all their guys,” said Gentry as Sacramento topped Phoenix, 110-107, on a Harrison Barnes 3 at the buzzer Oct. 27 when Luke Walton was the head coach.
“These are all positive things we can talk about and try to get to the consistency, maybe not to where they are because these guys are going to win 64 games. I know what that feels like because we won 62 games when I was here (as an Suns assistant coach in 2004-05). It’s just that you want your guys to take a look and ultimately this is what we’d like to get to and understand how that process takes place.”
That loss dropped Phoenix to 1-3.
The Suns responded with a franchise-record 18-game winning streak in winning 63 of their last 78 games.
With the regular season behind them, the Suns will look to finish what they started last year as they reached the finals, but lost to the Milwaukee Bucks in six games after taking a 2-0 series lead.
“I know for me, it’s going to be taking a day and just unplugging for a second,” said Shamet, who is in his first season in Phoenix. “And then when we come back and get back into practice and locking in, it’s like, ‘alright, strap up, it’s the long haul.’ So that’s kind of the mindset. Just getting back and being super locked in and knowing what we’re ultimately shooting for.”
The Suns, who have the No. 1 overall seed, will open postseason play next Sunday against the eighth seed that emerges out of the final day of the play-in Friday.
“It’s great to be No. 1 seed, but now everybody is hunting for you,” Suns backup center Bismack Biyombo said. “So, you have to be prepared for the challenge, which I think our guys are. And we’ve shown a lot of resiliency in a lot of games throughout the season, and I think that builds a certain level of confidence going into the playoffs. And again, the playoffs is almost like a whole new season. It’s one game at a time, one possession at a time. So you have to be a little extra focused, which I think we all look forward to this time of the year. As an athlete, the playoffs should motivate you.”
Phoenix played its final regular season game Sunday without Deandre Ayton, Jae Crowder, Chris Paul and Booker.
Booker and Ayton were listed as out for rest.
Crowder sat with right ankle soreness while Paul was out with right thumb injury management as he missed 15 games with a fractured right thumb.
The Suns also sat Cameron Payne for a second straight game with right knee soreness.
Mikal Bridges continued his streak of playing every game of his NBA career, but came out after the first six minutes of the first quarter and didn’t return.
Bridges didn’t score as he only attempted two shots.
The Suns have a plan moving forward this week as they prepare for the playoffs.
“We’re going to have a couple of scrimmage days where we just come in and play our guys,” Williams said. “They’ve been here before and I think that helps us as opposed to last year, I didn’t know what to expect. I hadn’t even won a playoff round in my coaching career so now at least we have an idea.”
The Suns are seeking their first NBA championship in franchise history.
“We’re just going to try to be as smart as we can and plan accordingly and try to do
what’s best for the team,” Williams continued. “We’ll figure out days to play and try to make sure guys get the level of conditioning they need and they always talk to us. They’ll tell us the days that they feel like they need to play more and we’ll extend practice on those days.”
Have opinion about current state of the Suns? Reach Suns Insider Duane Rankin at [email protected] or contact him at 480-787-1240. Follow him on Twitter at @DuaneRankin.
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George is Digismak’s reported cum editor with 13 years of experience in Journalism