PHOENIX — The dueling forces for what direction the Phoenix Suns should go in the future are actively playing a role in their current season.

Phoenix is 26-26, certifiably mid, as the kids say. Ever since starting the year 9-2, it has become clearer by the day that the Suns are not even an eagle’s eyesight within fulfilling their potential. It has inspired constant conversations about how they need to move forward.

It’s not just what they do with the roster in the offseason, though. It’s what they do with it for the remaining 30 games this year on the court.

Rotation choices are often a tiring and inconsequential subplot that annoyingly make up the majority of criticism from fans, but to stop being the old man telling you to get off my lawn, the protests this season have more meaning than they did previously.

Phoenix has to get bigger and more athletic. Look at the Suns’ direct competition at the top of the Western Conference for how they have to catch up in this department. You can also watch even the worst teams in the league like Charlotte, Toronto, Utah and Washington, where you’ll see those types of players too.

The Suns have added two recently in rookie wing Ryan Dunn and center Nick Richards. But because the two lack experience and are prone to the small mental mistakes that come with that, they are getting passed over for knowledgeable veterans by a coach trying to maximize every bit he can so his team is playing in the postseason.

Dunn and Richards, however, will only learn with, well, experience. Richards is older at 27 in his fifth NBA season but lacks reps in winning situations where execution triumphs everything, while Dunn’s ultra valuable to a Suns as a first-round pick for a franchise lacking homegrown talent.

The blueprint for how the Suns have to start winning games in this stretch run was a defiant win over the Warriors in which the energy from that pair to begin the second half swung the game.

Nick Richards and Ryan Dunn sparked what you could argue was the turning point in the game last night, an 11-4 run to open the second half.

Plays on both ends by Richards and great drives by Dunn, plus a good job (like Richards) getting back on defense to finish a possession. pic.twitter.com/Yx7UZaJ2r0

— Kellan Olson (@KellanOlson) February 1, 2025

To start with Richards, in the five non-blowouts he’s played in since starting, he’s only closed one of them. In those five games, he’s played a combined 14:05 in the fourth quarter. And over the last eight total contests, he’s at 22.3 minutes per game while backup Mason Plumlee is close behind at 19.7.

For long-time pod listeners, they will be well versed in “The Abdul Nader Rule,” a reference point for whenever you can’t exactly tell why a player is getting run, like Nader did under Monty Williams. That is because, like Nader, they are doing exactly what the coaching staff wants. Or, more accurately, needs.

Plumlee, a 12-year veteran, has 1,050 career minutes in the postseason alone. While he can’t move like Richards and lacks Richards’ explosion around the basket, Plumlee knows where to be. Richards is still figuring that out.

Head coach Mike Budenholzer was asked after practice on Monday some areas of improvement for Richards in order for him to close games more frequently.

“Part of it is I think just familiarly and knowing everything,” he said. “You have to have more reps, you have to have more time, you have to have more time of hearing what we’re calling, running a side out of bounds, and underneath out of bounds, a defensive coverage, an adjustment to a defensive coverage. You can’t make up for a training camp and makeup for all that time just instantaneously.

“So I think he’s just gotta continue to get as many reps as he can, take it all in, process it and be ready to do it to close a game. I think there is decision-making, passing, when to go get a basket, things like that where he’s gotta continue to grow. Defensively, communicating, letting people know where he is and what he’s doing. But he’s overall been good. To finish is probably maybe that next level.”

Despite what the eye test says with Plumlee’s proclivity for frustrating fans, in the 12 games Richards has played, Plumlee has the team’s highest net rating at 3.3. Richards, meanwhile, has the second lowest on the team at -5.8, per NBA Stats.

On offense, even if Plumlee has those bizarre rolls to the basket when he has a fairly clear lane to shoot and will instead pass, he’s making those passes on the move with relative consistency while finding those pockets of space routinely. Richards is not a playmaking big, so that’s a part of the Suns offense that came into the season with only playmaking centers Richards will have to keep improving at.

On defense, opposing teams have been targeting Richards more often. Portland in the blowout Suns loss ran a lob to Deandre Ayton to open each half, so Richards wound up defending Toumani Camara, only for Camara to then find himself the beneficiary.

From the untrained eye, one of the minor mistakes Richards can make is going for too many opportunities to block shots, leaving the Suns compromised from a rebounding perspective.

But in an example of how the Suns want Richards to play and how even some of the above clips are not totally on Richards, Budenholzer shut down that notion entirely.

“No I want him to go block shots,” he said. “I would like for the guys maybe in front of him to be better and not put him in those spots. We gotta be good defensively as a group and maybe rely less on him. But if there’s opportunity and there’s need for him to protect the rim, we need other guys that have his back and are getting hits and taking care of him when he does come to block shots.”

With a question based around the weak-side defender that has to help take on Richards’ rebounding position when he contests shots, Budenholzer started with dribble penetration. He confirmed that’s just as much of the problem, if not more.

“Yeah, if there’s penetration — and this league’s hard,” he said. “We want to keep the ball in front of us, we want to keep the ball out of the paint but there’s a realistic side to where he’s gotta be a weak-side shot-blocker. He’s gotta come and make an impact there and we gotta help him on that weak-side glass.”

Dunn’s lack of minutes has been far more befuddling. The Suns need exactly what he is, a large wing that denies dribble penetration. And he’s also showing progress!

Dunn is at 14.4 minutes per game over his last five. Some of this does have to do with a recent ankle injury for Dunn, but he said after Saturday’s loss it feels 100%, so scratch that now.

Like Richards, there is still some catching up to do for Dunn. He’s a rookie picking things up. Dunn’s net rating is the only one over these dozen games lower than Richards’ and it’s way down there at -11.3. On the entire season, it’s a far more tolerable -3.5.

Dunn has been a good NBA defender as a rookie through the learning curve, a legitimate feat for newbies, and obviously is going to grow into much more. The encouragement for his growth began building with his initial burst of confidence as a shooter offensively before it has now turned into how viable Dunn is as a contributor scoring the ball.

His 3-point shot is around where it was expected to land, 31.4%, and that is what is likely eating at his minutes the most since Grayson Allen, Royce O’Neale, Bradley Beal and Tyus Jones are all guys who play off Kevin Durant and Devin Booker with far more reliable 3-point shots that all sit above 40%.

But a lot of the pessimism for how Dunn looked as a prospect and could earn the ill-fated “zero” label on offense has not come to fruition at all.

Dunn has benefitted greatly from the league’s space, something hypothesized last summer thanks to his school Virginia’s plodding pace.

His best offensive skill in two collegiate seasons was as a play finisher, a position he played in by getting used as a screener. Phoenix has wisely put him there more often.

The key shot for him to continue to grow more efficient with is his floater. Both Dunn and fellow rookie Oso Ighodaro are not looking to barrel into the lane to finish through contact and draw a foul. That can still be overcome by having touch in front of the rim protectors, and Dunn is shooting a very good 31-for-62 (50%) from 5-14 feet, per Cleaning the Glass.

The screening actions allow him to get to that floater.

Dunn has began piecing together when to take advantage of his lack of gravity as a poor shooter. Ironically enough, the guy he was potentially nearly traded for in Jimmy Butler is who he should be watching more tape of this summer. Players are taught to maximize spacing and stretch the floor but there is always a window to slash into the space once the ball-handler begins attacking. The guy guarding Dunn is naturally going to be lackadaisical and drift away at times, so he has to be aggressive with that.

Dunn’s improvement with this has been great to see.

And the golden ticket has been more straight-line driving, a skill every NBA wing must have. These have to be rapid and decisive, the exact descriptors Dunn’s Virginia tape would have told you is going to be too much of an ask. But he’s doing it more.

Add those with opportunities in transition and on the offensive glass, plus the 3s that drop, and that’s how simple it can be to go from a guy struggling to touch double digits to being there nearly every night. In the 12 games Dunn has reached ’em, he’s made over two triples just four times, a testament to him finding other areas to score.

Across an 11-game spurt from late December to mid-January, Dunn was averaging 11.6 points per game and shooting 52% from the field. Two games later, he sprained his ankle. As Dunn will learn, that’s life in the NBA. Now that his ankle is OK, the Suns have to get Dunn back on track with the quite frankly amazing offensive progress he was showing.

There are no easy answers for how the Suns achieve this. The solution for Richards to get more time is easy enough. But more Dunn means less Allen, O’Neale or Jones, valuable veterans. That’s before getting to the newly acquired Cody Martin, who should play too. And then there’s Bol Bol, who has sparked the team in back-to-back outings and is still only 25 years old! Time will tell if the Suns are able to embrace development while desperately trying to hang around in the postseason picture.

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Arizona State Sun Devils center Jayden Quaintance is going to miss some time after rolling his ankle in Sunday’s loss against Oklahoma State, head coach Bobby Hurley told Arizona Sports’ Bickley & Marotta on Tuesday.

“Feel awful for Jayden. He was just sprinting down the middle of the floor and kind of got taken out and his legs undercut,” Hurley said. “He rolled his ankle pretty good. There was quite a bit of swelling in there. Was just hoping for the best when we got him to campus for his doctor’s appointment yesterday and the imaging that we took.

“Everything was fairly positive on that end, but he’s going to be out for a period of time now to let all that swelling quiet down. He’s got an ankle sprain right now.”

The freshman recorded three points, three steals and a block in nine minutes before leaving Sunday’s matchup.

It’s the same ankle Quaintance tweaked in practice ahead of ASU’s loss to then-No.3 Iowa State in January. Quaintance ended up playing through the injury against Iowa State, but missed ASU’s following game at Colorado.

In 22 games played (all starts), Quaintance is averaging 9.5 points, 8.2 rebounds, 1.5 assists, 1.1 steals and 2.8 blocks across 30.4 minutes per game.

Reinforcements on the way with Quaintance sidelined

While Quaintance’s timeline for a return is up in the air, the same can’t be said for senior guards Adam Miller and BJ Freeman.

Hurley expects the pair back for ASU’s game against Texas Tech on Wednesday after both were suspended for the Oklahoma State game.

“We saw both guys yesterday at the facility. Both guys got some work in on their own. We’ve moved past that,” Hurley said. “It’s been a tough stretch. A lot of frustration, a lot of close losses. Both guys were very contrite about how they felt about the situation. They’re just excited to get back with the group today and practice.”

Miller was ejected during the Sun Devils’ 71-70 loss to Kansas State and received a flagrant 2 foul. It was ruled a fighting ejection, implementing the suspension.

Freeman sat out against the Cowboys due to conduct detrimental to the team.

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The Phoenix Suns’ NBA trade deadline was far from what a lot of people had in mind after missing out on now-Golden State Warrior Jimmy Butler.

As ESPN’s Brian Windhorst put it Monday, Phoenix’s deadline “fell flat.” Throwing out Kevin Durant and Bradley Beal as potential trade pieces didn’t help matters, either.

Because of those factors — plus Phoenix’s luxury tax situation — Windhorst has the Suns among five teams facing the most pressure post-NBA trade deadline.

They’re mired in the second apron of the luxury tax, limiting ways to change the roster, and sit at .500 with the toughest remaining schedule in the league. Beal’s no-trade clause is padlocked in place, and Durant has just a year left on his contract and appears headed for a showdown with the team if he doesn’t want to extend this summer.

What’s worse than underachieving? Being expensive and inflexible, too. The story writes itself. Getting out of this will be a chore.

Following Saturday’s 122-105 loss to the Denver Nuggets, the Suns at 26-26 head into this week hanging onto the final play-in tournament spot by a thread.

Golden State is right behind Phoenix at 26-26. The Suns sit ahead of the Warriors thanks to their 2-1 head-to-head mark.

And it’s not going to get any easier for the Suns having the toughest remaining schedule in the league on top of what could be an eventful summer.

The Suns’ actions indicate they know they’re in trouble, and they’re examining how to dig themselves out. They needed to — and did — explore trading Durant even though it upset him, and they needed to offload salary to get some future flexibility. And they moved in this direction, trading Jusuf Nurkic with a first-round pick on deadline day, saving $130 million in salary and taxes this year and next.

There will likely be more unsavory medicine to ingest this summer, when Durant’s future with the franchise comes back into question. How the Suns handle it and how well they execute a possible Durant trade is vital to their future.

Suns not the only NBA team facing the pressure

In addition to Phoenix, the Los Angeles Lakers, Milwaukee Bucks, Houston Rockets and Dallas Mavericks rounded out Windhorst’s pressure list.

Seeing Dallas crack the top five shouldn’t come as a big surprise following its surprise dealing of star Luka Doncic to L.A. in exchange for a trade package centered around Anthony Davis.

Davis left his Mavericks debut with a non-contact injury and will reportedly miss multiple weeks with a left adductor strain.

Before exiting, Davis had racked up 29 points, 16 rebounds, seven assists and three blocks across 31 minutes.

Doncic, meanwhile, will make his Lakers debut Monday night against the Utah Jazz.

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SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. (AP) — Thomas Detry nearly aced the rowdy 16th hole in a stretch of four closing birdies, shooting a 6-under 65 on Sunday to win the Phoenix Open by seven shots for his first PGA Tour victory.

A year after soggy conditions led to multiple delays, perfect weather greeted players at TPC Scottsdale’s Stadium Course. The fans also were on their best behavior — as much as they can be at the PGA Tour’s wildest stop — following a mayhem-filled 2024 tournament.

“It’s what dreams are made of.”

Thomas Detry on becoming a first time PGA TOUR winner @Amanda_Balionis pic.twitter.com/jiNUNstwub

— Golf on CBS ⛳ (@GolfonCBS) February 9, 2025

Detry took advantage of the ideal conditions and navigated the rowdiness to enter the final round with a five-shot lead. Top-ranked Scottie Scheffler, Jordan Spieth and Daniel Berger all made charges, but Detry hit it to 16 inches on 16 to seal his first win in 68 PGA Tour starts.

Detry added two more birdies to finish at 24-under 260, becoming the first Belgian to win on the PGA Tour.

Berger shot 67 and tied for second with Michael Kim (67) at 17 under. Spieth shot 68 to tie for fourth at 16 under in his second tournament since wrist surgery last summer.

Justin Thomas holed out from 103 yards for eagle on 18 to shoot 65, finishing tied for sixth at 15 under.

Detry had been waiting for this moment.

The 32-year-old won the European tour’s Bridgestone Challenge in 2016, twice represented Belgium at the Olympics and had two runner-up finishes on the PGA Tour — most recently at the 2024 Houston Open.

All that was missing was a PGA Tour win.

Detry put himself in position with stellar ball-striking and putting in the desert. He entered the final round at 18 under and wasted no time adding to it, dropping a 12-foot birdie putt on No. 1. He couldn’t get up-and-down from a greenside bunker on the par-4 second, but bounced back with a birdie on the par-5 third.

Detry shot 1-under 34 on the front nine and still had a four-shot lead heading to the back. He reached 20 under with a birdie on the hardest hole on the course, the 470-yard, par-4 11th, and added a two-putt birdie on 15 before his near-ace on 16.

Several players put pressure on Detry as they climbed the leaderboard.

Berger made the latest charge.

He pulled within three shots with birdies on No. 12 and 13, then chipped in for par on 14 after barely getting his third shot out of a greenside bunker. He briefly cut into the lead with a birdie on the par-5 15th, but Detry poured in one on top of his to keep it at three.

Berger bogeyed No. 16 after bouncing his tee shot through the green, ending his comeback bid.

Spieth shot 33 on the front to get to 15 under, but had one birdie over his final 11 holes of his second start since offseason wrist surgery.

Scheffler shot 31 on the front nine to reach 14 under, only to fade. He shot a 5-over 41 on the back nine to finish with a 72, dropping all the way to 25th in his second start since he injured his hand on broken wineglass while making ravioli for Christmas.

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PHOENIX — The Phoenix Suns’ battle for two-plus months has been making baby steps. It’s nowhere near where they should be progress-wise but is their current reality a week away from the All-Star break. For now, that’s gotta happen to at least lock in postseason basketball before any bigger conversations on grand aspirations.

That’s why it’s hard to take much out of Saturday’s 122-105 loss to the Denver Nuggets on the second night of a back-to-back, besides shorthanded Phoenix showing a good enough amount of energy to hang around and make Denver earn it.

Devin Booker did not get a rest after halftime of Friday’s overtime win, ending up at 49 minutes, a number that loomed for Saturday. It was an unfortunate necessity. Kevin Durant (left ankle sprain) and Bradley Beal (left great toe soreness) were out again on Saturday, and so too was the hero of Friday’s win Grayson Allen (left knee soreness).

Outside of a few misses for Tyus Jones on floaters, the Suns had a great offensive start, generating 3s and making ’em. They got up 50 on the night, showing good signs of executing the gameplan. The issue was Denver beginning the game 14-for-18 from the floor to lead by 11 after nine minutes. Booker was seeing crowds everywhere when he had the ball or was about to get it.

This margin more or less held around that range until Denver got it to 17 by the end of the third quarter, with Phoenix hanging around thanks in part to nice contributions off the bench from Bol Bol, TyTy Washington Jr. and Damion Lee. But the Suns (26-26) could never put together a strong enough run to really put pressure on Denver (34-19), a trend that persisted till the end.

Channeling some same positive energy for how the Suns competed in this one, they did so without burning themselves too bad. The defense has gotta be much better, but again, that’s just where this team is going to be at, especially shorthanded. They won second-chance points 23-15 and points off turnovers 10-7, their kryptonite nearly every night.

“I thought the effort on the boards was tangible,” head coach Mike Budenholzer said. “You could feel our guys going and getting offensive rebounds, our guys going and getting defensive rebounds.”

Booker was 8-of-19 in 34 minutes for 24 points, seven rebounds, three assists and two turnovers. He was often put in positions where it was more down to the secondary assist coming from him, which is where you can point at some of Jones’ 10 assists to go with 15 points and zero turnovers. Jones tried to be aggressive scoring the ball and was but went 6-of-17.

This was the second straight productive stint in the rotation for Bol. He brings some desperately needed size to the wing rotation. While he’s often erratic, Bol is a legitimate weapon for Phoenix, specifically at home. The crowd adores him and he captivates everyone to the point where he’s a one-man spark plug for the building’s atmosphere. He ended up with 19 points, seven rebounds and four blocks in 33 minutes.

It has been a down year for Denver’s Jamal Murray. That version of him did not show up on Saturday. He made three quick 3s to begin the game and finished with 30 points (12-for-23). Suns rookie Ryan Dunn struggled in a way we’ve rarely seen with a premier assignment. He only played 13 minutes and Budenholzer said pregame that Dunn is still dealing with some discomfort in his left ankle. Dunn sprained it two weeks ago before tweaking it again on Wednesday.

Jokic missed two shots, going 11-of-13 for 26 points, 11 rebounds and nine assists in 29 minutes. The greatness that man is capable of even in a relative jog of a game like this should not go unnoticed.

The Nuggets have now won six straight, five coming without Russell Westbrook (left calf strain), who in many ways jolted their season back to life. They were also missing the on-fire Michael Porter Jr. (left hamstring tightness), owner of 28.8 points per game across the winning streak while shooting 62%. Peyton Watson (right knee sprain) was also out, the type of hyper-athletic wing that causes the Suns massive issues.

Budenholzer was hopeful Durant could play on Tuesday in Phoenix against Memphis, labeling the ankle issue as something not very serious at all. He did not go to those lengths for Beal, who got a “we’ll see” for his status. Allen’s been bothered by that knee for the past two seasons and it will occasionally pop up on the injury report.

Western Conference’s pecking order around Suns as All-Star break approaches

Denver came into the day ranked third in offense and 20th in defense. Interestingly, since Dec. 8 the Nuggets are 23-9, but those marks across that time are nearly identical. So, this has not been some dramatic turnaround after a blah start 20-plus games in. And Denver can be a direct example for the Suns to take from in how a below average defense can still be supported by a great offense if it is elite enough.

This surge from Denver now has them on pace to sit with Oklahoma City (42-9), Memphis (35-17) and Houston (32-20) in the top-4 in the West standings. That’s then two guaranteed playoff spots left up for grabs if that holds, a reasonable assumption. (In a brief side note, the Rockets have lost six straight, so keep an eye on them for the rest of the month.)

The trade deadline only further intensified how highly contested those spots will be.

The Los Angeles Lakers (31-19) have won 11 of their last 13 to rise above the clutter. Luka Doncic is set to make his debut on Monday, so the key will be how long it takes for Doncic and LeBron James to grow their dynamic while still being a capable enough team defensively to win through that. The safe bet is the unreal production Doncic and James bring on a nightly basis is enough of a buffer to at the very least stay in this top-six race, even after the Mark Williams trade was shockingly rescinded by L.A. on Saturday evening.

Minnesota (30-23) did not make a move but is getting prime Anthony Edwards right now. In his last 19 games, Edwards is at 32.3 PPG. Through injuries, they’ve been forced to play younger guys like Jaylen Clark, Rob Dillingham and Terrence Shannon Jr., which is exactly what Minnesota needed in its rotation. Clark, in particular, has had a very good week.

Without Kawhi Leonard, the Los Angeles Clippers (28-23) held a top-six spot. Since his permanent return, they were oddly 4-4 coming into Saturday. Another squad worth highlighting up until March to see where they stand.

And while the Dallas Mavericks (28-25) have some big-picture fit things to figure out with Anthony Davis at the 4 and a lack of on-ball creation beyond Kyrie Irving, those are problems that sprout in the postseason. They should win a lot of games in the meantime. In Davis’ Dallas debut, he was an absolute leviathan, with 26 points, 16 rebounds, seven assists and three blocks in 31 minutes before he tweaked his groin. The trade was horrible and will remain horrible but don’t forget that Davis is a top-tier player.

Ditto for Jimmy Butler with the Golden State Warriors (26-26). Expect him to go on an awesome tear over these last two months.

That feels like a good cut-off point for teams that deserve current consideration for the 6/7 line of the standings. It’s a total of nine before we get to the Suns.

Further down, De’Aaron Fox’s move out of Sacramento (25-26) figured to make the Kings much worse but they got back Zach LaVine in the three-team deal, who is having a fantastic year. In the early returns two games in, though, the Kings will require time to mesh. Ditto for San Antonio after picking up Fox, and it’s a steep climb from 22-28 even though they were able to acquire him for no one in the rotation.

And then there’s the Portland Trail Blazers, who can only be lightly crossed off if at all thanks to a 10-2 tear to suddenly be in the mix at 23-30.

That’s 13 teams. Maybe it’s not in the way we imagined it in the preseason when hyping up the West, with a few key contenders stuck in the log jam, but it’s met it for competitiveness.

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NEW ORLEANS (AP) — They are two of the more delightful — in Philadelphia — and detestable — to the rest of the league — words that have escalated into the fast-evolving NFL lexicon.

Tush push.

No team has taken advantage of the rugby-style scrum — deemed so unstoppable that the NFL had flirted with the idea of banning the play — quite like the Eagles under coach Nick Sirianni and QB Jalen Hurts.

Sirianni likes to say that every first down for the Eagles is first-and-9.

No example summed up how much the tush push can be a pain in the butt to the opposition quite like when the Eagles used it to maddening perfection against Washington in the NFC championship game. The Commanders jumped offside four times in a sequence of five plays while trying to stop the tush push — earning them a warning from the referee that he could award the Eagles a touchdown if the Commanders did it again.

It sounded implausible but it was true, right there in Rule 12, Section 3, Article 2 of the league’s rule book. Titled “Fouls To Prevent Score,” it states, “The defense shall not commit successive or repeated fouls to prevent a score.” Further, the rule reads that “if the violation is repeated after a warning, the score involved is awarded to the offensive team.”

Hurts, as he inevitably does, scored a touchdown.

“It’s a great concept, great play, hard to stop,” Commanders linebacker Bobby Wagner said. “If I was them, I would run it, too.”

Oh, they do, on repeat: The Eagles were successful on 28 of 34 tush push attempts this season, according to Next Gen Stats. Overall, Hurts converted 35 of 43 attempts this year on third- or fourth-and-1 from anywhere on field, plus any other runs from the 1-yard line.

That’s the incredulous part — teams know the tush push is coming, fans at Lincoln Financial Field go wild when the Eagles line up in TP formation and yet defenses still can’t stop the score.

Just don’t tell Kansas City.

What trick do Chiefs think they have to stop tush push?

The Chiefs, who have mastered the art of everything from the improbable comeback win to defying the odds and the injuries that seem insurmountable en route to a third straight Super Bowl, might have unlocked the cheat code on stopping the tush push.

In the AFC title game, the Buffalo Bills converted only twice on six attempts with their tweaked version of the tush push. While the Eagles like to bunch together and push Hurts forward, the Bills and QB Josh Allen tend to lean left in their first-down attempts.

“(KC) put their big guys inside and their linebackers were coming downhill pretty hard,” Allen said after the game. “They played it well.”

Well enough to stop the Eagles?

The Eagles fell short to Kansas City 38-35 when they played each other in the Super Bowl two years ago, but it wasn’t because of the tush push. Hurts scored two touchdowns on the play against the Chiefs in the Super Bowl — and threw for 304 yards and accounted for four total TDs — and then used the play against the Chiefs in the 2023 season to score the winning touchdown.

Chiefs defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo, whose complicated defensive playbook and reliance on blitzes are a big reason why the team is back on the NFL’s biggest stage, has had at least two weeks to devise a scheme to stop Hurts.

“I think the Eagles have perfected this thing over however many years it’s been and that offensive line, I think they’re built for it,” Spagnuolo said. “They could take that O-line and win some rugby tournaments. They’re that big and physical and they’ve really perfected the way they do it. I think it’s really tough to stop.”

Those teams that can’t stop it start making excuses.

Consider, Green Bay president and CEO Mark Murphy wrote on the team’s website after the Packers were eliminated by the Eagles that the tush push is “ bad for the game.”

“There is no skill involved and it is almost an automatic first down on plays of a yard or less,” Murphy wrote. “The series of plays with the Commanders jumping offsides in the NFC Championship Game to try to stop the play was ridiculous. … I would like to see the league prohibit pushing or aiding the run.”

Ban the tush push?

Sirianni can only scoff at critics who hate on the play.

“The success that we have is not always replicated around the entire league,” Sirianni said. “We saw it last week with the game plan we’re studying with Kansas City against Buffalo. Stopped them in a critical situation. I guess I’m lobbying to never change that rule because we’re successful at it. We’re successful at it because of the guys we have up front.”

The Eagles played to near push-perfection this season even after Cam Jurgens replaced the retired Jason Kelce at center. It helps having a quarterback who can squat the weight of about three Saquon Barkleys in Hurts and a stout offensive line that features Pro Bowl stars Landon Dickerson and Lane Johnson.

Controversial or not, just maybe the Eagles can use the push to sneak away with a Super Bowl win.

We have just about made it through the winter to spring training, and Arizona Diamondbacks general manager Mike Hazen is content with the position player group after re-signing Randal Grichuk earlier this week.

That leaves pitching to address before the club takes the diamond at Chase Field on March 27, he explained.

“I think the offense, position player group is probably put together, barring trades happening,” Hazen said on Tuesday. “Things become available, or there’s ways to shift it around, but I kind of like the balance we have right now. … We’ll still stay focused on the pitching. We still have some work to do on the pitching, but we’ll see. It’s getting late, but we’ve done deals in the past in the next couple of weeks so hopefully there’s opportunities.

“I still think there’s enough in the market right now with teams with unfinished business and having to do stuff that could present some opportunities for us.”

Whether another move may come via trade or free agency is to be determined, he said.

The Diamondbacks have been open about wanting another back-end relief option this offseason and have yet to acquire one. The bullpen is largely intact from the 2024 roster besides former closer Paul Sewald, who signed with the Cleveland Guardians this winter.

Bryce Jarvis, Drey Jameson and Kyle Nelson each missed significant time last year on the injured list and may add depth to the group this year. Justin Martinez, A.J. Puk, Kevin Ginkel, Ryan Thompson and Joe Mantiply are all still around.

Perhaps the trickier question is what happens in the starting rotation, considering the D-backs had a surplus going into the offseason and signed four-time All-Star ace Corbin Burnes.

The Diamondbacks have received calls throughout the winter on their starters but have held onto the group, including veteran Jordan Montgomery after a down year.

Burnes, Zac Gallen and Merrill Kelly will headline the rotation. Eduardo Rodriguez will look to rebound from an injury-plagued first year in the Valley. Brandon Pfaadt and Ryne Nelson are coming off promising seasons and then there’s Montgomery looking for a bounce back. A good problem to have still needs solving, but the club has time.

Opening Day is more than seven weeks away, and as Hazen pointed out, the Diamondbacks have made moves this late in the process before.

Montgomery feeling good

Speaking of Montgomery, Diamondbacks first-year pitching coach Brian Kaplan joined MLB Network on Sirius XM this week and presented an optimistic update on Montgomery this offseason. The veteran southpaw went through his worst MLB season in 2024 after waiting until spring training had ended before signing with the club. He opted into a $22.5 million player option for 2025 despite criticism from club managing partner Ken Kendrick.

Kaplan said Montgomery may have been burned by how his tenure in Arizona started after a disappointing free agency.

“I know that can sound like an excuse but some of the most important time of the year is that build-up in spring training into the early season,” Kaplan said. “I know a lot of that was disrupted by the negotiation process. And then he was just trying to fit into a new place.

“I think he’s comfortable in his skin right now. He’s had a really strong offseason. The communication I’ve had with him back and forth and some of the people he utilizes in the offseason to get him in the right spot has been really good. He feels good, some of the stuff I’ve gotten back from him is good.”

Brian Kaplan: “More than anything, it’s just getting off to a strong start, which was tough (for Jordan Montgomery) with the circumstances last year.”#DBacks | @Dbacks
🔗 pic.twitter.com/IvvUtyb67q

— MLB Network Radio on SiriusXM (@MLBNetworkRadio) February 6, 2025

Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo surprised Grichuk was available

Grichuk returned to the Diamondbacks on a one-year, $2 million contract with a mutual option and $3 million buyout for 2026, so essentially a $5 million deal.

The veteran outfielder thrived down the stretch last year while filling a role as a platoon bat against left-handed pitching. He finished with an .875 OPS and 12 homers.

Manager Torey Lovullo reacted to the re-addition while at the WM Phoenix Open Pro-Am this week.

“First of all, Randal had a tremendous year for us last year,” Lovullo told Arizona Sports‘ Tyler Drake. “I’m surprised that he didn’t sign a little quicker with another team, and the fact that he landed back on us is awesome for the D-backs. He had a great year, and I’m just thrilled to have him back in the fold. We’ve got a really good team. We’re not complete, we’ve got a lot of work to do.”

Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo is surprised Randal Grichuk did not sign quicker or with another team.

“He had a great year, and I’m just thrilled to have him back in the fold.” pic.twitter.com/nrAeJJtSj8

— Arizona Sports (@AZSports) February 5, 2025

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PHOENIX — We are better off not reviewing where the Phoenix Suns’ 135-127 overtime victory over the Utah Jazz lands on the spectrum between nearly disastrous loss and spirit-lifting win.

In the sixth sense we have developed watching this team the last two years, the Suns got their lead up to 13 with 6:05 to go. One more Suns bucket and stop would do it.

It sounds so easy. So simple.

And then, the Suns failed to get a bucket or stop for five straight possessions. It was suddenly Suns 111, Jazz 111 at 2:40 remaining.

An awful gamble by Phoenix guard Tyus Jones on a pass 35 feet away from the basket, one of dozens of Suns defensive gaffes on the night, set up a Utah tip dunk to put it ahead by two at 49 seconds left. After a Grayson Allen missed 3 (more on him in a minute) Isaiah Collier’s difficult midrange fallaway put the Jazz up four at four ticks left, all but sealing it.

But then Allen hit a 3 and Phoenix fouled quickly enough to put Utah’s Lauri Markkanen at the free throw line at 0.9 on the clock. Markkanen made both, a moment in which missing the second intentionally had some logic to it, even though Phoenix had a timeout. Devin Booker agreed he expected Markkanen to miss the second.

The rebound would have taken a few slivers off and not allowed Allen to set his feet in a direct re-creation of Rex Chapman’s infamous game-tying triple in the playoffs against the Seattle SuperSonics 28 years ago.

THERE WAS .9 ON THE CLOCK.

AND GRAYSON ALLEN HIT IT. pic.twitter.com/vVdES4O2rT

— Phoenix Suns (@Suns) February 8, 2025

Opposite side of the floor, same spot.

Suns head coach Mike Budenholzer, a Holbrook native who had Suns roots growing up, remembers that shot well.

“I told Rex that was like the carbon copy. … I see the picture in the dentist’s office when I go to the dentist,” Budenholzer said.

Booker knows his history.

“Yeah, yeah, yeah — that is it,” he confirmed, noting Chapman will surely show Allen the highlight on Saturday. Allen also knows that is coming.

Allen had much less time, 0.9 to 4.3, so it’s a delicate moment with lots of details that have to go perfectly.

“In that situation, since it’s a skip pass, it feels like there’s a lot of time of the ball in the air before it gets to your hands. … The first box you’re trying to check is feet behind the line,” Allen said. “And once you catch it, for a righty going to the right you kind of feel a little freer that the guy is not gonna block it and just get the shot off and trust it.”

You’ll notice that Allen doesn’t fully dip the ball back down in a traditional shooting motion, the type of no-dip 3 marksmen like him practice constantly. It’s a sped-up release. Allen confirmed to Arizona Sports that’s a lot of repetition paying off, noting how as a shooter you are aware of how long everything takes and the differences required when it’s, say, 2.5 seconds as opposed to one.

It was a lot more than just Allen too, the beauty in these types of plays.

Booker, of course, has made that type of assist of the screening variety at the buzzer before. He astutely pointed out to Arizona Sports he set the screen as well on the Valley-Oop in the 2021 Western Conference Finals. He also wisely pointed out at the podium that Royce O’Neale made an “excellent pass,” a la Jae Crowder’s fantastic feed to Deandre Ayton.

Utah, an awful team, predictably spiraled in the extra period to seal it.

Booker played all 29 minutes after halftime for 49 to post 47 points, six rebounds, 11 assists and four turnovers on 18-of-33 shooting. The Suns were without Kevin Durant (left ankle sprain) and Bradley Beal (left great toe soreness), their first win in six tries while missing both of them. Phoenix hosts Denver the next night.

The Jazz, now 12-38, came into the evening with two total winning streaks on the year (if you want to count just two wins straight) and losing streaks of six, four, five, three, five, three and eight. The lack of knowing how to win that shows in that rundown sure shows when you watch them too.

Jordan Clarkson (left plantar fasciitis), Taylor Hendricks (right fibula fracture), Collin Sexton (left ankle sprain) and Cody Williams (left ankle sprain) were all out. Clarkson and Sexton each average over 15 points per game, Hendricks was a starter to begin the year and Williams was Utah’s top selection in this year’s draft.

The Jazz got there offensively with 25 offensive rebounds for 27 second-chance points, 21 of which came after the first half. They had 62 points in the paint to the Suns’ 30.

“We secure a few rebounds and that game is put away,” Booker said.

This was the latest damning Suns effort that felt like two evenly-matched teams against a far inferior opponent, and also had a nostalgic element to it. Booker in the first half was 8-of-12 for 22 points while his teammates combined to shoot 12-of-35 (34.3%) for the Suns to be tied at halftime. Utah got out to a 20-8 lead, full of botched rotations on defense and hardly any connectivity. The Jazz managed that 55-55 scoreline shooting 39.6%.

Utah extended a lead to four a bit into the third quarter when the rookie starting point guard Collier had his 13th assist already with 8:33 on the clock. Collier, an uber-talented prospect who slid to the end of the first round because of a subpar year at USC, was capitalizing on the lackluster team defense.

Phoenix scored 35 points in the second quarter and 40 in the next frame to lead by five, an indicting lack of a cushion that speaks to the defensive performance.

The separation grew to 13 at that aforementioned point before the wheels predictably fell off.

Budenholzer extended the rotation to 10, including point guard Monte Morris, wing/big Bol Bol and wing Damion Lee. Morris has mostly been out of it while Bol and Lee have hardly had any opportunities all year.

Morris has played well when he has gotten a chance while Bol and Lee in the last two seasons have had their moments providing a spark too. Bol had a good stretch at the end of the first half with a block, floater and 3 that earned him the first minutes off the bench in the second half. He finished with 12 points and three blocks in 24 minutes.

New acquisitions Cody Martin and Vasa Micic were out, with the Jusuf Nurkic trade just becoming official on Thursday night. Martin had missed Charlotte’s previous seven games due to a sports hernia, so he could be out quite a while longer.

While Utah is a giant team, things like rookie center Oso Ighodaro remaining out of the rotation will continue to be more and more puzzling as the year goes on. Mason Plumlee has been better the last few weeks but there is hardly a difference, if at all, to the quality of minutes, even with Plumlee knowing all the veteran ins and outs.

Phoenix drafted Ighodaro for a reason and is not your usual second-round pick. The Suns used legitimately valuable assets to them in order to select him and Ighodaro was a four-year player at Marquette, with a lot of his appeal being as an NBA-ready guy. He primarily switched in college on defense, so playing drop coverage has been an adjustment, but you know what will help him learn faster? Playing!

In an extension of that point, Plumlee bizarrely closed over Nick Richards, who produced 12 points, 16 rebounds and four blocks in 23 minutes. He will also get better with the intricacies of his role if he can play in closing moments. Budenholzer attributed that to his own coaching feel and Plumlee being more familiar with the Suns’ system.

That is a small example of the type of mindset change the Suns should have with how they approach the next two months.

Allen took a charge from Utah big John Collins in the third quarter, and in the process, also took Collins’ head to his mouth. Allen needed a towel for his bleeding mouth after and went to the locker room for his tooth going up through his lip. He returned to end up with seven made 3s for 21 points to go along with seven rebounds, six assists, two steals and a block. His effort continues to stand out through the Suns’ lulls.

Allen joked afterward that the locker room was “not toxic at all” in celebration, alluding to the report of toxicity in the locker room that came on Thursday. He mentioned earlier that he felt the team was very connected throughout, especially at the end, the type of feeling we’ve mentioned in this space for a while that the Suns can build off through the sludge if there is consistency with it.

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PHOENIX (AP) — A former personal assistant to Arizona Cardinals owner Michael Bidwill has filed a lawsuit against him, saying that she was verbally abused during her tenure with the club.

Brittany Neuheisel, who worked with the Cardinals from 2019 until last month, is represented by attorney Michael Caspino and the suit was filed on Thursday in the Superior Court of Maricopa County.

The suit claims constructive discharge, wrongful discharge, discrimination and intentional infliction of emotional distress.

The 54-year-old Neuheisel claims that she was “continuously tormented for failing to disavow members of her own family and for refusing to participate in illegal conduct.” The suit also says that Bidwill wanted to replace Neuheisel with someone “young, beautiful and athletic.”

In another example, the suit claims that Bidwill demanded Neuheisel “provide false information” on federal and international disclosure forms relating to the owner’s travel on a private airplane. It also says that when Neuheisel would raise concerns about Bidwill’s requests, the owner would ridicule her Catholic faith, saying, “Do it and then go to confession!”

She is seeking a jury trial for unspecified damages.

The Cardinals responded to the lawsuit in a statement Friday.

“Earlier this week, the Cardinals received an email from a California-based plaintiff’s lawyer,” the statement said. “In it, he threatened to file a lawsuit unless the team agreed to his demand for a substantial amount of money by (5 p.m.) the next day.

“The team refused and the lawyer has now filed the Complaint. The Cardinals were surprised by and strongly deny the allegations made in this lawsuit and intend to defend the case on its merits in the appropriate forum.

“As this is now pending litigation, the team will refrain from further comment.”

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Arizona State athletic director Graham Rossini on Thursday was critical of how men’s basketball coach Bobby Hurley handled Saturday’s loss to Arizona, which included a late-game headbutt, players sent to the locker room ahead of the buzzer and postgame comments that the Wildcats won “with no class.”

“No, it’s not,” Rossini told Arizona Sports’ Burns & Gambo if the actions were acceptable to him. “We talked about it right after the game, and I know a lot’s transpired since then. I think coach had a chance to reach out to his counterpart at U of A the next morning. I talked to their AD right after the game.

“I understand tensions are riding high and emotions are very heated in a game like that, not the ending that we were hoping for. But we gotta maintain sportsmanship. That was a miss, he admitted it, we admitted it on his behalf as well and we’ve tried to do our best to move beyond it and get ready for this weekend.”

Rossini reiterated Hurley’s biggest focus was preventing further postgame confrontations, which is what the coach told Arizona Sports’ Bickley & Marotta on Tuesday.

Is Bobby Hurley on the hot seat?

The athletic director said by being in the performance business, he’s always in an evaluation process that includes frequent conversations with Hurley.

“He and I have that conversation off and on, what are the missing pieces,” Rossini said. “He’s our coach and we want to support him as we’re in the middle of the season. We talked yesterday and said, ‘Hey, we just gotta exhale.’ We gotta make basketball fun again.”

Hurley, in his 10th season, has the Sun Devils (12-10, 3-8) on a five-game home losing streak and outside of the bubble for what would be his fourth NCAA tournament appearance at ASU, according to ESPN’s Joe Lunardi.

“It’s an expectation, it’s not a goal. It’s kind of one of those minimum requirements that we want to have tournament teams certainly in basketball, but in all of our sports,” Rossini said. “It’s my responsibility to look throughout the organization and figure out what are the pieces that we need to tweak and adjust and add to in order to have that kind of success. We’re not in this for participation trophies, we’re in this to win championships.

“And we gotta look hard at the reasons why we can’t be successful and look at those adjustments that need to be made, and there’s obviously a time and a place where we’re prepared to do that.”

Earlier this season, Hurley passed predecessor Herb Sendek for the second-most wins by an ASU coach (167-141, record-holder Ned Wulk was 405-273 from 1958-82).

ASU next plays in Stillwater against Oklahoma State (11-11, 3-8) on Sunday at noon MST.