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Phoenix Suns guard Bradley Beal suggested Monday night that the Suns overlooked the San Antonio Spurs in a 104-102 road loss.

According to ESPN’s Andrew Lopez, Beal said: “It’s disappointment. We came in here and laid an egg. We thought it was going to be easy with no Wemby. Just got our ass kicked. They came out aggressive, just like Coach [Frank Vogel] told us they would, and we didn’t respond. Well, we did, but we didn’t withstand their punches.”

At 16-56, the Spurs have the worst record in the Western Conference this season, and that’s with No. 1 overall pick and likely 2024 NBA Rookie of the Year Victor Wembanyama playing 63 games and putting up impressive numbers.

Wembanyama did not play Monday due to an ankle injury, but the Spurs still managed to pull off the massive upset.

Phoenix entered the game with a 42-29 record on the season, but the loss dropped it to 42-30, and it now sits eighth in the Western Conference standings, a half-game behind the seventh-place Dallas Mavericks and the sixth-place Sacramento Kings.

Given that the top six teams go straight into the playoffs and avoid the play-in tournament, losing to an undermanned Spurs team could loom large for the Suns in the final standings.

Both Kevin Durant and Devin Booker had big nights for the Suns, combining for 65 points, but they didn’t get much support from their supporting cast.

No other starter scored in double figures, including Beal, who finished with nine points on 4-of-11 shooting, plus six assists and five rebounds.

Beal also left the game with just under three minutes remaining after spraining his right ring finger, but X-rays came back negative and he expects to play in the Suns’ next game, per Lopez.

Additionally, starting center Jusuf Nurkić left early in the third quarter due to a sprained ankle, making an already thin Suns team even more devoid of depth.

Vogel expressed his belief that the Suns were prepared for Monday’s game, but called the loss “unacceptable.”

While no game is a guarantee in the NBA, a meeting with a Wembanyama-less Spurs team was already penciled in as a win for Phoenix by most.

Now, the Suns find themselves in a difficult position in terms of playing winning basketball down the stretch and securing one of the top six seeds in the West.

Of their 10 remaining regular-season games, all of the Suns’ matchups are against teams currently in the playoffs, including the reigning NBA champion Denver Nuggets, who are next up on Wednesday.