Phoenix Suns: 5 Lessons From Preseason Opener

3. Starters’ Chemistry vs. Depth

It was a rough night for the Suns’ starting five, and not just because of P.J. Tucker’s goose egg. Four minutes into the game, Phoenix’s rust and developing chemistry were all too apparent as the Kings took a 16-4 lead.

“We stress pressure defense, to get after guys, and we start our the game and give them four three-pointers that were half-contests,” Hornacek said. “So that first group, they’ll get better, but our bench guys came in there and really played hard and we’re gonna need that all year.”

Phoenix’s starters were outscored 40-17 in the first half and 64-39 for the game. Luckily, the Suns’ bench put up a whopping 63 points and outscored Sacramento’s reserves by 29. Early nerves made for a rough first quarter, but it wasn’t all bad for the whole night.

One Eric Bledsoe-to-Tyson Chandler alley-oop was waived off because of a bad charging foul call, but on another play, Knight saw Chandler running down the middle of the floor and signaling to the rim, which prompted him to throw a perfect lob pass for the easy dunk:

“It was our first time playing against another team, first time beating up on another team instead of beating up on ourselves, so we had some jitters to start the game,” Knight said. “But I think once we got into a flow and kind of got a feel for how we should be playing the game and started communicating with each other, we started to fall into the type of team we want to be.”

The starting five has plenty of time to work out its chemistry before opening night, but it’s encouraging that the bench came in prepared from the get-go. From Devin Booker’s poise to Alex Len’s contributions (six points, seven rebounds and two blocks in 14 minutes) to Leuer and Warren, everyone on the bench was prepared.

Next: No. 2