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Over the course of the past two seasons the phrase, "worst since (insert year)" has been used frequently. The Phoenix Suns have been fortunate to have very good teams over the past ten years or so and are seemingly coming down to earth slowly over the past few years.
Another sign that the bricks that laid the foundation for years of winning are nearly all broken down.
With the recent loss to the Los Angeles Clippers the team picked up their worst home loss in over five calendar years. The 26 point disembowelment was the worst loss in front of the home crowd since February 24th, 2008 when the team hosted the Detroit Pistons and lost 116-86.
The loss to the Clippers was alarming not only because of the margin, the swift dismissal of the game by the team, but also because of the seemingly uninterested effort in the second half of the game. Scoring only 34 points in the second half and less than 20 points a quarter after the first period showed a lack of desire to knock off one of the best teams in the league.
In the first quarter the team played well with balance and inside out, then they went away from that and the result is now history.
Playing at home is all about passion and pride to give the paying customers a good show protecting their turf. This is where the team practices, lives, and in a sense is their home. You protect your home. On the season the team has protected home more than they have been road warriors, but they are on pace to have their worst home winning percentage in years.
In that same time frame -- five years -- the Suns have a 67.17 winning percentage at home. At their worst they were 23-18 at home averaging 12 losses a season.
Taking care of home is the bare minimum for what any team should do no matter the current trajectory of their season. The Suns are not on pace to make the playoffs or be a great team, that is not in the cards for them, but if 26 point losses at home are going to be a norm they might need to reevaluate some logistical elements of the current philosophy.