A game on the schedule for the Phoenix Suns against the lowly Washington Wizards who are currently on a nine-game losing streak should have been an easy win for a team that looks like they had gotten their stride back after winning three straight games after a five-game losing streak.

It’s vital in the NBA to win the games you should win, but it’s not uncommon for the better teams to overlook the lowly and allow them to gain confidence enough to pull out the victory.

The Suns looked very tired coming off a back-to-back and were more shorthanded than they were the night before.

Their defensive force Josh Okogi was out of tonight’s game, and they probably could have used him down the stretch against a hot shooting Bradley Beal of the Wizards.

 Even though DeAndre Ayton scored 30 and had 13 rebounds, it just didn’t look like as big of a game as it looks on paper from an engaged standpoint.

There were instances where DA just stood around and allowed layups and offensive rebounds, and he didn’t look as active and alert as he was the night before.

The team as a whole seem like they took their foot off the gas after closing a 17-point deficit to lead by as many as 10 points in the fourth quarter.

The Suns had a 10-point lead with 4:44 to go in the game and they blew it by fouling the Wizards and allowing Bradley Beal to come alive in the fourth quarter.

Beal had 6 points with about three minutes left in the third and exploded for 21 the rest of the way.

Head Coach Monty Williams said after the game “ games like this we usually close out but we didn’t do a very good job of that tonight” there was also a little riff between Monty and Ayton on the sideline late as well as Ayton and Bridges at the free throw line while Beal was shooting.

The common denominator was Ayton in all of these riffs, and the complaints of his coach and teammates had everything to do with the effort that was being displayed by the center.

The Wizards steal the win 1130-110 led by Kyle Kuzma’s 29 points on 10 of 19 from the field shooting and hitting a key three down the stretch to extend Washington’s lead to five at the time.

The Suns Landry Shamet had the game of his life shooting the ball, it’s sad that it couldn’t come off a win.

Shamet finished with a hot shooting performance from behind the three-point line hitting 9 of 16 threes and finished with a team-high 31 points.

The next two opponents are two of the teams ahead of the Suns in the Western Conference standings by one game and a half the Grizzlies and Nuggets, Suns must be ready to play their best basketball because superstar power players Ja Marant and the MVP Nikola Jocic are their next task to overcome over the Holiday weekend.