Suns open 2017 preseason with fantastic 4th quarter comeback

Of course this was the season’s first preseason game, but there was plenty of positives to pull from it. 114-112! And then: It’s always fun to win!

For a team that is likely to experience more losses again this season than we chose to predict, even during the preseason it’s always enjoyable to cheer on the Purple Gang from Phoenix in their new fresh uni’s, pulling off a big fourth quarter comeback, on the road, against a Conference rival. Suns fans can’t wait to see the likes of Eric Bledsoe, Devin Booker, T.J. Warren, and Josh Jackson receive extended minutes late into the fourth quarter, but if you’re going to play the bench guys in crunch time, it’s leaves a good feeling after the final buzzer to see a victory, providing even the slightest of hope that this team is improved over last season.

Early on the Suns looked a little disjointed. A lot of missed shots, poor defense especially on pick and roll’s, and Tyler Ulis looked entirely over-matched against the bigger Portland Trailblazers backcourt – on both offense and defense. Hopefully his shooting will improve which will then allow for wider lanes when he decides to drive and pull up among the trees. Phoenix was not run out of the gym, and of course it was their first 12 competitive minutes since March, so it’s absolutely forgivable to see such a sluggish start to a game that ultimately doesn’t matter.

The second quarter was not much better for the Suns as they pulled back to within a six points early, only to fail to score on offense for multiple possessions while proving unable to stop the Blazers on defense re-digging themselves a deep hole that at times seemed like they may not recover. Josh Jackson undoubtedly looked like the best overall player on the court as he played with unending energy – just as advertised – scoring from all over the court and playing with a fire and energy that would otherwise be missed with Alan Williams out for the majority of the season.

By the third quarter a few familiar – and new – faces made their first appearances of the preseason as the starters were ultimately benched for the rest of the game.

In particular, Alex Len made his first appearance since signing his qualifying offer and grabbed five rebounds in his first four minutes. Tonight was a fun night to watch Alex Len as he looked like a man on a mission. It’s hard to pull what is real and what is just preseason, but Alex Len has really never looked better. It may prove to be too difficult, but if Len can play with that level of energy all season (by the way, he was never in foul trouble, and by my count only had one – extremely crucial – foul all game).

The newest Sun on the block, Troy Daniels, who was acquired in a trade with the Memphis Grizzlies only two weeks ago, nailed his first three, a wide open shot from the right arc. He will presumably play the majority of his minutes as a backup to Devin Booker, but it will be interesting to see how many minutes he actually gets during the regular season as it does appear that Booker will play a good 35 minutes per game, far more than he will receive during the preseason.

He then nailed a second three.

Then a third – off of the first pass, and assist, for Mike James in a Suns uniform.

Then following his first missed three that was immediately put back with a huge slam by Alex Len, he nailed his fourth.

The Suns missed that last season. Hopefully Daniels can provide it this year, and heck, maybe even a few years into the future ala Raja Bell.

Granted against the Blazers second and third strings, the Suns fought hard in the fourth quarter and James, Daniels, and (believe it or not) Len led the 12-point comeback with a series of fantastic passes (James), three’s from every location on the court (Daniels), and rebounds and slam dunks (Len). The Suns scored 41 fourth quarter points, seemingly draining well over 50% of their shots while playing smothering defense on the Blazers as the Portland energy appeared to drain while the Suns’ rose like Mercury in the blazing Arizona heat.

Depth in the back court in particular will be important as one more injury to a guard and both Daniels and James will receive far more minutes than anyone currently expects of them. Again, this was the first preseason game of the year and they were playing against the Blazers’ backups for the most part. But if James can score and dish with the efficiency that he played with this evening, and Daniels can be the sharp-shooter that this roster lacked last season, then they will – if nothing else – be even more fun to watch, even if the team is still losing games.

Next: Three Fun Goals for the 2017-18 Phoenix Suns

Unfortunately there was a statistics blackout on NBA.com, ESPN.com, and other sites during the fourth quarter of the game so final statistics at press time are very difficult to come by preventing an even deeper dive into the details of tonight’s game. At least this was the first game of the preseason and in the end will be forgotten.

That being said, enjoy the season’s first official after game GIF:

Guess what: The Suns are in first place in the Pacific Division at the moment. Enjoy it while it lasts.

The next preseason game is Friday, October 6 at 6pm in Salt Lake City. See you then!