Bradley Beal questions when he last took 14 shots with Suns, did so in roughly half of games
Bradley Beal had one of the worst shooting performances of his career when he returned to Phoenix in a 115-102 Suns win on Thursday.
The former Suns guard was 2-for-14 (1-for-5 from 3) with five points, thrust into a higher usage with Kawhi Leonard and James Harden inactive. The 14.3% he shot from the floor was bottom five in his career across 586 regular-season games, according to Stathead.
After two years in Phoenix where he almost never felt comfortable in his role — and after four Los Angeles Clippers games within the 20-minute range — Beal told The Athletic he was happy just to see his shot attempts reach double digits for the first time this season.
“When’s the last time I shot 14 shots for the Suns?” Beal said.
The answer: April 9, when he went 8-for-17. It was the 25th time where Beal took at least 14 shots across 53 games played in 2024-25. He had 27 such games out of 53 contests played in 2023-24, his first year in Phoenix.
There were also 12 games across the 106 with the team where he shot at least 20 times.
It hasn’t gone all that smoothly with L.A. as he started the year on a minutes restriction (knee soreness). The 19 minutes and 39 seconds he played in Phoenix on Thursday was his lowest total of the season.
But one aspect he’s appreciated is how his team is only asking for him to be himself.
“Everybody’s on my ass like, ‘Go, keep shooting, go, go, go,” Beal told The Athletic. “‘Just go be you, be you, be you.’ So that’s always encouraging. And that’s something I take to heart, and I’m happy to hear that.”
Suns fans may remember when Beal’s former coach, Mike Budenholzer, reportedly wanted the guard to be more like Jrue Holiday, a hard departure from who Beal had been his entire NBA career before.
When reflecting Thursday on his time in Phoenix, Beal called the situation that fell apart “a big ‘what-if’ story.” He also noted he’s excited for his current situation and said he’s sure Devin Booker and Kevin Durant are excited about their current situations too.
With two matchups already in the books less than 10 games into the season, Phoenix and L.A. will again face off on Saturday.
