MY FIRST LIVE PHOENIX SUNS GAME

WHAT A TIME TO BE A SUNS FAN!!

I have been a Phoenix Suns fan for the bulk of my life.

I was born in Phoenix but spent the the first 13 years of my early years in Oklahoma and New Mexico. My first real experience watching the Suns came from the 1993 NBA Finals when the Phoenix Suns faced the Chicago Bulls. Back then I was more of a baseball fan (due to playing in a local little league in Albuquerque) so watching the Suns was a totally new experience for me, I was instantly in love.

Fast forward to 2014 and I am now the tender age of 32. Unfortunately, I had never been able to see a game live and in person. I had watched as many as possible on TV or listened on the radio, but was never able to actually go to a game. My sister knew this and, in a gesture of sibling love, she purchased two tickets. The  game of choice was versus the New Orleans Pelicans on February 28th 2014 (Basketball Reference was used for reference).

The 2013-14 Suns were a sort of Cinderella-type team. Going into this season Phoenix was considered a team in the midst of a rebuild and were projected to be one of the worst teams in the league. Going into this game they were 33-24 and were fighting for a playoff spot. The Pelicans were 23-34 and were struggling to win games. Eric Bledsoe, in his first year here was hurt and still a few weeks away from his return.

The Suns rolled out a starting lineup consisting of Goran Dragic, Gerald Green, PJ Tucker, Channing Fry and Miles Plumlee. The Pelicans starting lineup was Brian Roberts, Eric Gordon, Tyreke Evans, Anthony Davis and Alexis Ajinca.

This was an exciting game to be at. The game itself was a tightly contested affair. The teams went back and forth for the majority of the game and were tied at the end of the third quarter. Fortunately, the Suns were able to pull away in the fourth and win 116-104. As far as first games go this was a great one to be a witness of. Back and forth games are always great, especially when the Suns win. The most exciting part though was the fact that this was a career-night for Dragic. He scored a career-high 40 points and willed the Suns to the win.

As my first Suns game this was amazing. We had seats in the 200 level but, if you’ve been to Talking Stick Resort Arena, even the the upper level is great to watch a game. The energy of this game was amazing too. As stated before the team was far better than anyone had predicted (which would eventually hurt them in the long run). It was actually the last time I can remember the arena being as full as it was. Dragic was a beast that night. The Morris twins shined off the bench.

It was pretty much a perfect first game.