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For much of the night, the Phoenix Suns seemed to be in cruise control against the San Antonio Spurs, building a lead as big as 20 points at one point. But the Spurs put together a late rally to pick up a 115-114 win, shocking a Suns team that simply fell apart in the fourth quarter. While the results on the floor weren't good, many fans weren't happy with Frank Vogel's late-game coaching decisions.
The primary issue came late in the game when Victor Wembanyama brought the Spurs to within one point on a putback dunk. The Suns still had a timeout, but they opted to inbound the ball to Kevin Durant, who was quickly swarmed and had the ball ripped away from him by Keldon Johnson, who would turn around and hit the game-winning layup. Frank Vogel could have called a timeout after Wembanyama's basket, or when Durant was trapped in the corner, but he didn't, and fans weren't pleased.
Vogel should be calling a timeout. And how’s that not a foul on KD? https://t.co/C6yd0tzyVM
— wallace (@almightywallace) November 1, 2023
(also, why did Vogel not use the timeout immediately after the dunk to advance the ball? Seems weird right?)
— Sam Vecenie (@Sam_Vecenie) November 1, 2023
Vogel gets that L. You call a timeout to advance the ball in that situation every time. Awful awful loss.
— Patrick Breen 🌵 (@pjbreenphoto) November 1, 2023
True but there is literally no reason for Vogel to not move the ball to halfcourt
— Fat K1 (@FatKylerMurray) November 1, 2023
We loss this game because of Okogie and Frank Vogel. Okogie took forever to in bounce the ball and Frank Vogel didn’t call time out to advance the ball.
— phoenix suns (@mvpsunsdbook) November 1, 2023
The amazing Vogel strikes once again not calling a timeout to advance the basketball from under the basket…
Stop the ⛽️ please
— Coach James 🇭🇹 (@JamesEdrick3) November 1, 2023
It was strange to see Frank Vogel not call his final timeout with the game on the line, and he didn't offer a true explanation for his puzzling decision, only complaining about how Durant should have gotten a foul called on him before Johnson stole the ball from him. But realistically, that could have been avoided if Vogal had simply drawn up a side-out play to get the ball in, or called a timeout when Durant was stuck and the referees weren't budging.
This is a tough loss to swallow for a Suns team that remains without two of their three superstars in Devin Booker and Bradley Beal. It would be one thing if they lost outright, but Phoenix threw away a big lead and made some questionable decisions down the line that cost them the game. This team has too much talent to lose games like this, and they will be eager to get back in the win column when they face off against the Spurs again on Thursday night.
