The Phoenix Suns are beginning to find their way as a team, but they are still culpable of suffering ugly losses like the one they suffered at the hands of the Atlanta Hawks on Friday night. While Kevin Durant led the way in this one (35 PTS, 8 REB, 8 AST, 14/24 FGM), Bradley Beal turned in another rough outing (14 PTS, 10 AST, 4 REB, 5/16 FGM) as he continues to struggle to find his fit within the Suns offense.

While injuries have played a role in Beal's struggles, his first season with Phoenix hasn't exactly gone according to plan, and his struggles have been even more pronounced over his past five games (13.2 PPG, 6.2 APG, 4.4 RPG, 35.2 FG%). It certainly isn't helping that Beal suffered a broken nose in their loss to the Indiana Pacers on January 26th, and in the wake of his struggles, Durant praised Beal for toughing it out and finding a way to still take the floor on a nightly basis.

Playing through injuries in sports is always tough, but Beal has been gutting it out by wearing a protective mask over his face in an effort to prevent further injuring his nose. That has certainly had an impact on his play, and it hasn't helped that he still is trying to find a way to fit in alongside Kevin Durant and Devin Booker on offense as all of this goes on.

Durant is making it clear, though, that the Suns aren't going to give up on Beal, and that they are appreciative of his efforts to find a way to help out the team. Beal will get more and more healthy with each passing day, and with Durant encouraging him to stay aggressive, he's going to have all the opportunity in the world to get into a rhythm over the final few months of the season.