Kennard Had 20. Maluach Grabbed 15 Boards. Phoenix Still Nearly Lost the Fourth.

Phoenix beat San Antonio 102–98 in preseason, but the score doesn't explain why the Suns could feel encouraged and uneasy at the same time. Luke Kennard scored twenty points, and Khaman Maluach dominated the boards with fifteen rebounds. That is useful work from players outside Devin Booker's usual headline space. The uncomfortable part is that Phoenix scored only seventeen in the fourth quarter and nearly surrendered a game it had controlled for most of the evening. When you have a fifteen-point lead in October, the win should not depend on surviving the last two possessions.

The Suns built a lead they almost didn't protect

The Suns opened 35–25 after the first quarter, behind efficient perimeter movement and the willingness to get Kennard into shooting areas. San Antonio improved defensively in the second but Phoenix still led 58–51 at halftime. The Suns won the third 27–22, taking an 85–73 advantage into the fourth. The game was never a playoff contest, but a twelve-point cushion with twelve minutes remaining should still allow a team to test its best late-possession decisions under relatively manageable pressure.

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Seventeen fourth-quarter points were a warning

Instead, the Spurs closed the final period 25–17. Phoenix's fourth-quarter offense became harder to organize, and San Antonio worked its way into striking distance. That's precisely the sort of regression preseason is supposed to expose. A team can look great with fresh starters and familiar early actions, then lose the thread after substitution patterns change. Phoenix won because it had built enough cushion, not because the last quarter was a model of control.

Kennard's shooting gives the lineup another weapon

Kennard's twenty points mattered as proof the Suns had another shooter capable of changing how defenses protect the lane. He added five rebounds and four assists, making his contribution broader than just one perimeter hot streak. A shooter who passes quickly when pressured can keep the offense alive even after opponents start top-locking the first action. Phoenix needs that kind of extra decision-making if its possessions are going to be more than waiting for Booker to make a difficult shot.

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Maluach made the case on the glass

Maluach's fifteen rebounds, meanwhile, may have been the more significant developmental sign. Young big men can look impressive on one dunk and vanish between highlights. Rebounding is harder to fake because it requires position and engagement on possession after possession. Maluach's activity helped Phoenix survive San Antonio's size. The Suns scored forty-two in the paint and won the battle for points off turnovers, 23–14, despite giving up more interior scoring themselves.

Wemby's minutes were about more than his highlights

Victor Wembanyama contributed thirteen points, seven rebounds, six assists and two blocks in a little over twenty-two minutes. That is not a bad evening, even if it wasn't the spectacle that some fans expected. San Antonio got another developmental look at the combinations around him rather than asking Wembanyama to take thirty shots in an exhibition. The Spurs won the paint 48–42 and fast breaks 19–11. That pattern suggests San Antonio could still get useful offense without forcing everything to come from one star.

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San Antonio also committed nineteen turnovers compared with Phoenix's fifteen. That four-possession difference matters in a game decided by four. The Spurs' improved fourth-quarter defense deserves credit, but four additional giveaways made the comeback a steeper climb. Phoenix's own late scoring struggles should be discussed separately from whether the opponent simply ran out of time. Both teams left with real weaknesses to study, even though one received the win in the record book.

6IX TAKE — the useful preseason story is the rotation

6IX TAKE — I know everybody sees Wembanyama on the other side and wants every Spurs game to become a Victor highlight compilation. That misses the purpose of these minutes. San Antonio needs to figure out which players make his life easier, which lineups can survive when he sits and how many possessions they're giving away before the offense even starts. Phoenix has a different problem. Kennard scoring twenty and Maluach grabbing fifteen rebounds are exactly the sort of supporting performances the Suns need. But the fourth quarter was ugly: seventeen points after holding a twelve-point lead. Don't tell me preseason doesn't matter and then ignore a twelve-minute stretch where the offense suddenly stops working. That's what the coaches should be studying. I don't think the Suns proved they're contenders by beating San Antonio by four, and I don't think the Spurs lost anything irreplaceable. The useful takeaway is that both teams had clear evidence about their rotation decisions instead of a meaningless exhibition result.

What the win should actually teach Phoenix

Phoenix's 102–98 win went into the preseason record book, but the most transferable lessons were Kennard's shooting, Maluach's rebounding, the Spurs' ability to attack inside and Phoenix's late struggle to score. If you want to know whether either roster has improved, watch what happens when the same problems show up against regular-season opponents.