PHOENIX — The Phoenix Suns are back down to earth on Tuesday following their 122-96 loss to the San Antonio Spurs.

The Suns started off strong but couldn't quite string together a full four quarters' worth of play, an unfortunate cycle for this team that's yet to be broken in the 2026-27 season.

While Victor Wembanyama flies away in his spaceship following a historic performance — three takeaways:

Jordan Goodwin is Truly Missed

It's tough to understate exactly how valuable Jordan Goodwin is to this basketball team, especially against the Spurs.

The Suns had a surprising amount of success against San Antonio last season. In fact, there were talks of Phoenix wanting to meet the Spurs in the postseason, as they felt like they had a formula to take down Wembanyama and crew.

That formula heavily involves the currently injured Goodwin, one of Phoenix's top defenders who did a strong job on Wembanyama despite the obvious size differences and mismatches that presents.

Goodwin's a favorite of Jordan Ott and for good reason, He hustles, plays hard and is strong defensively. That was missed, probably more than the average fan believes last night.

The good news? He could be back for tonight's matchup against the Los Angeles Clippers.

Suns Need Changes Around Devin Booker

Booker's not going to be traded, nor should he.

However, last night was a stark reminder of Phoenix's current team and how it's simply not giving play or results like so many had hoped for. The overall roster construction of this team isn't good.

Booker paced the Suns with 32 points, the third time in the last four games where he's crossed the 30-point barrier. The next leading scorer? Backup center Khaman Maluach with 11 points. All four fellow starters had a combined 27 points.

That's not good enough, regardless if the Suns are playing the Spurs or Harlem Globetrotters.

The front office will be patient. The coaching staff will be patient. But make no mistake about it, there is a breaking point for this team before changes have to be made.

Suns Still Can't Find Four Good Quarters

We alluded to this in the opening, but the Suns are 3-6 without having played a full 48 minutes of strong basketball. Even in their upset win over the Houston Rockets this past weekend, the team still nearly blew a 19-point lead.

Phoenix only found themselves down six after the opening frame of play vs. San Antonio. In the third quarter, they managed to keep themselves within ten before the floodgates truly opened. By the early minutes of the fourth, the Spurs were toying with the idea of resting their starters.

Last year's Suns used to grit and battle their way through entire games. That feels like a lifetime ago watching this team. Perhaps it's not the losses that linger the worst, but more so how Phoenix just isn't fighting like they once did.