Ighodaro’s Plus-52 Highlights Suns’ Blowout of Pacers, Phoenix Improves to 8-5
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Second-year center Oso Ighodaro posted a plus-52 in 26 minutes off the bench Thursday night, setting a franchise single-game record as the Phoenix Suns routed the Indiana Pacers. The plus-minus mark is the third highest of the NBA’s play-by-play era.
Ighodaro finished with a career-best 17 points, seven rebounds, three assists and three steals. “I thought it was a typo,” head coach Jordan Ott said of the historic number. Ighodaro added that his recent focus has been “just trying to impact the game in a positive way.”
Booker Keeps Scoring, Admits Fatigue
Phoenix is 8-5 despite a condensed schedule of 13 games in 23 days. Devin Booker delivered his seventh 30-point outing of the season against Indiana but acknowledged feeling worn down beforehand. “I didn’t have a lot of juice coming in, but I looked around the locker room and everybody was ready to go. Kind of revived me,” he said.
Brooks Recalls Confidence Dip in 2023 Playoffs
Asked when he last lacked confidence, veteran wing Dillon Brooks pointed to Memphis’ 2023 postseason loss to the Lakers. Brooks said then-Grizzlies general manager Zach Kleiman told him to limit himself to six shots per game, sapping his assurance even though “the players want to win.” Brooks arrived in Phoenix via offseason trade and has been credited with helping spark the Suns’ fast start.
Allen Thriving as Primary Ball-Handler
Ott is also leaning on Grayson Allen to initiate offense. According to The Athletic, Allen had already run 160 pick-and-rolls entering Thursday, more than halfway to his personal season high. He is attempting 3.2 pull-up threes per game and converting 45% of them.
Source: Hoops Rumors
