Phoenix Suns head coach Jordan Ott was asked after a 108-105 win against the Minnesota Timberwolves on Monday whether he’d like a change to the NBA rule that allows only two coaches’ challenges, even if the first two were successful.
“I’ve coached in 24 games,” Ott told reporters. “That’s way out of my league to speak about.”
The first-time head coach burned his second challenge in the first half when Grayson Allen was called for his fourth personal foul, and the overturn allowed the injury-plagued Suns to keep one of its few on-ball creators on the court.
That decision had some part in a trickle-down effect of this: Without Devin Booker and Jalen Green — and with leftover leading scorer Dillon Brooks gutting it out with Achilles soreness — Phoenix managed to win its 14th game in 24. It came against a should-be playoff team with its star player, Anthony Edwards, firing on all cylinders for 40 points.
No Sun played more than 33 minutes.
Two-way guard Jamaree Bouyea played just 12 but led the Suns with a positive 11 plus-minus.
Center Mark Williams led the team with 22 points in 29 minutes.
More than anything, it was the defense and a 14-3 run to begin the fourth quarter, led by now-starting point guard Collin Gillespie, that can define these pesky Suns so far this season.
“No. 12. He pretty good at basketball,” Edwards said of Gillespie, explaining concisely why the T-Wolves couldn’t pull out a win.
Gillespie is the highlight of Ott’s coaching success so far.
With 13.6 points, 4.8 assists and 3.8 rebounds averaged, he’s a Most Improved Player candidate alongside Brooks.
Gillespie began the year as a backup point guard. Monday, he became a confident No. 1 option in the fourth quarter.
His 12 minutes included a trio of 3s, the last of which came with a Michael Jordan-to-Bryon Russell shedding of All-NBA defender Jaden McDaniels for a stepback. He added two assists and two clutch free throws, which gave Phoenix a three-point lead that the Timberwolves couldn’t overcome with their last heave.
ANOTHER COLLIN GILLESPIE TAKEOVER.
He continues his breakout season with 12 of his 19 points in the 4Q as the @Suns win a thriller! pic.twitter.com/fVoLRLiS71
— NBA (@NBA) December 9, 2025
The Suns have defined a clear play-style and won at the details, down to the aforementioned successful coaches’ challenges.
But in the most simplistic terms, Phoenix has won because the staff has optimized its individual players — from Booker down to Bouyea.
Gillespie’s lineupmates for that key 14-3 spurt were the undersized group of Bouyea, Jordan Goodwin, Ryan Dunn and Oso Ighodaro.
“That start to the fourth quarter really helped us save some minutes,” Ott said.
“Hopefully that’s just what we’re about. Doesn’t matter who’s out there. … That group is a tough, kind of nasty at times, defensive-minded group. And we know if we can get out in transition, we can be a good offensive group, too.”
Those five bench players are in the top seven of Suns players with the best on-court plus-minus, not including Green’s brief appearance this year.
Four of the five, excluding Dunn, are in the top five of the team’s best off-court plus-minus.
Let’s put it this way, without numbers:
Which Suns players have failed to meet expectations so far this year? How few have even done as badly as meeting expectations? None of the nine Suns who played Monday without Booker and Green fall under either category.
It’s extraordinary considering the injury troubles moved Gillespie and others up the food chain.
Phoenix still sits at No. 13 in bench NET rating.
As a whole, the Suns are No. 9 in NET rating over the past 15 games, with a No. 9 defense and No. 11 offense. For the year, they are top five in deflections per game, loose balls recovered by game and screen assists, all of which fall under a generally-defined category of “hustle” statistics.
“It’s becoming something that we do every night,” Ott said of the turnover-creating chaos the team has made regularly. “Our activity, our pressure, it comes from different guys every night.”
