The Phoenix Suns (4-6) quickly remedied a Monday night loss with a 133-110 drubbing of the Los Angeles Clippers on Tuesday.

Among the chief driving forces in the victory was none other than the efforts of the bench, which is setting the stage to play a major role over the rest of the regular season.

Explore these implications below, as well as touching upon another major milestone Devin Booker crossed on Tuesday.

Many Suns fans have been conceptualizing what a "doomsday" season would look like in Phoenix. 

Well, there's two data points within the last week (Orlando Magic, Clippers) that seem to separate the Suns from the very worst of the NBA at the very least. 

A major factor in this is absolutely the bench unit that GM Brian Gregory has cobbled together. The bench scored 81 points as a collective unit, with players deeper down the rotation such as Koa Peat, Rasheer Fleming, and Jamaree Bouyea showing capability of stepping in as necessary. 

However, the most vital performances came amongst the "core" members of the bench.

The "six-to-ten" arrangement of Collin Gillespie, Luke Kennard, Jordan Goodwin, Ryan Dunn, and Khaman Maluach all shone in the brightest of ways. 

Gillespie's shot finally seems to be making a return, which makes him a "must-play" for roughly 20-25 minutes a night. Kennard is making good on the prospects of becoming a higher-volume player, while flashing on-ball creation as a complimentary piece of his game. 

The return of Goodwin was crucial to tying the bridge between the guards and bigs on the bench on Tuesday as well. The scrappy guard made an instant impact on a return from a four-game absence, to the tune of an 18 point showing on six made threes. Goodwin continues to prove that he is a much better offensive player at this stage of his career in an incredibly positive development for Phoenix. 

Perhaps the most meaningful performances came from F Ryan Dunn and second-year center Khaman Maluach.

Dunn's 10-point, eight rebound performance on Tuesday is his third-straight phenomenal showing off the bench. Dunn seems more confident, in control, and consistent in virtually every manner. Maluach, on the other hand, has been a completely different player since returning to a bench role. 

The 2025 lottery pick seems to be evolving into the player many hope he can be, and is taking full advantage of mismatches against second-unit bigs, all while Oso Ighodaro enhances the starting unit's offensive exploits.

Ultimately, the Suns' bench has too much talent and is too versatile to pigeonhole the team as a whole at the bottom of the West. The hope is that the bench eventually raises the ceiling of the 2026-27 team, although this is a work-in-progress.

The 12th-year guard passed Julius Irving for 79th all-time on the NBA's scoring leaderboard on Tuesday. 

Booker continues to be humble through it all, with expressing deep respect for Irving becoming a subject of his post-game availability (quote via Hayden Cilley).

"It's an honor. Those are two guys that I respect, legends in the game. Yeah, I don't know what to say. I want to keep going. It's something I can look back on once I'm out of the league. Appreciate it, but for now, I just want to keep building." 

In addition to rising up the overall leaderboard, Booker is now the 12th-highest scorer for a single franchise in the history of the league. The 30-year-old will continue to work towards  elevating the Suns and his own game over the final 71 games of the regular season.