Phoenix Suns star Kevin Durant speaks at a practice shootaround ahead of the Phoenix Suns matchup with the Chicago Bulls on March 19, 2025. (Photo by Sam Datin/Cronkite News)
PHOENIX – While playing at Marquette, Phoenix Suns rookie center Oso Ighodaro said the Golden Eagles liked to call dunks, assists and any good hustle play “EGBs” short for “energy generating behaviors.”
“We used to call dunks at Marquette ‘EGB’– an energy generating behavior,” Ighodaro said. “When you dunk or you get an assist or something good, it gives energy to your teammates … and I feel like it adds up throughout the game.”
In a season defined by drama and disappointment, the Suns have been in dire need of energy generating behavior. And Ighodaro, fellow rookie Ryan Dunn and second-year point guard Collin Gillespie have provided the boost during a three-game win streak that has bolstered the Suns’ chances of sneaking into the playoffs.
On a three-game win streak and winners of four of the last five, Phoenix is hanging in the NBA playoff race at 34-37 with 11 games remaining. They are tied with Dallas for 10th in the Western Conference standings and hold the head-to-head tiebreaker with the Mavericks. They stand 1 ½ games behind the Sacramento Kings for ninth. And the Suns’ season finale is a matchup in Sacramento, where the Suns could tie up the season series with the Kings with a win.
With the next nine games coming against teams currently in playoff position, including matchups against the Oklahoma City Thunder and Boston Celtics, the remaining schedule is a gauntlet.
Related story
However, the Suns are coming off their best win of the season, a home victory against the Cleveland Cavaliers on March 21 they pulled off playing short-handed.
“Every game is going to be a battle at this point,” Suns guard Devin Booker said after the win. “We see the remaining schedule, we know what we’re up against. We’re going to have to sustain what we’re doing now.”
Although Kevin Durant’s 42 points led the way, the game represented what the Suns have needed all season – energy. They got it from their young players. Dunn had 10 points and nine rebounds and Gillespie, whose move into the starting lineup coincides with the three-game win streak, had 13 points and four assists.
However, the biggest contribution might have been from Ighodaro, who stepped into the starting lineup due to injuries and battled for a career-high 44 minutes against Cleveland’s All-Star frontcourt duo of Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen. Ighodaro finished with six points and 13 rebounds – more boards than either Mobley or Allen – and registered a team-high +15 during his time on the court.
“As a center, you are the most important when it comes to anchoring the defense, setting screens for your teammates, plays at the rim, finishing plays on defense with a rebound,” Durant said about Ighodaro after the Cleveland game. “He is in the right position, he’s talking, he’s battling.”
Ighodaro made his third start of the season, and it came two weeks after he was injured playing for the Valley Suns in the G-League. He says his approach is always the same because his role is always the same, bringing energy and doing little things.
Ighodaro’s teammates have credited him for doing those small things such as communicating on defense, earning extra possessions on the glass and setting screens. Providing energy and earning these “‘EGB’s” – which Ighodaro said Marquette tracked and used to rank players in different categories – drilled the habits into him.
“The attention to details, it gets ingrained into you,” Ighodaro said. “I feel like that’s one of my biggest strengths, being consistent and my approach every day.”
If the Suns were counting the “EGB’s” against the Cavs, Ighodaro and Dunn likely would’ve accumulated many of them. They certainly piled up the daps and claps.
Phoenix Suns rookie Oso Ighodaro comments on his recent contributions at a practice shootaround as the Phoenix Suns gear up for the final stretch. (Photo by Brevan Branscum/Cronkite News)
Dunn had the defensive assignment on Cavs star Donovan Mitchell, who shot 2-for-18 from the floor, and he scored 10 points, his fifth straight game of double-digit scoring.
Both rookies have played key roles in the team’s recent defensive resurgence. The Cavs scored 10 points below their season average, and the Suns are yielding just 107 points per game over their 4-1 stretch. Dunn is averaging one block and 1.8 steals per game over his last five games.
“We’re playing with some good energy,” said guard Grayson Allen. “We’re doing a lot of switching, especially when Oso is in the game, and I think that’s been really good.”
Suns players have noticed Ighodaro’s ability to guard players of all positions, which has freed up the defense to switch, according to Allen.
The defense and overall energy the rookies bring will be a factor in the Suns’ remaining schedule. It remains to be seen how many minutes they will get with Nick Richards, Mason Plumlee, Bradley Beal and Allen expected to return from recent injuries soon.
Whoever is on the floor around Booker and Durant, the team is ready to build off the momentum.
“Especially around this time of year, it’s important to get big wins and to have some good momentum,” Durant said. “We only have a handful of games left, but those are the most important games, and I’m looking forward to playing.
“We’re playing with some good energy. We’re doing a lot of switching, especially when Oso is in the game.”
