Suns can’t BEAT LA, time to BEAT LA

Phoenix Suns (0-2) v Los Angeles Clippers (1-0)

Saturday 10/21/2017 7pm
Staples Center, Los Angeles, CA
Arizona Sports 98.7FM/Fox Sports Arizona

2017-18 – Series tied 0-0
All-Time Series – Suns lead 130-82
Last Matchup – Clippers won 124-118
Suns’ Last Game – Loss to the Los Angeles Lakers 132-130
Clippers’ Last Game – Win over the Los Angeles Lakers 108-92
2017-18 Suns’ Scoring Averages – PTS/G: 103.0 (18th of 30) Opp PTS/G: 128.0 (29th of 30)
2017-18 Clippers’ Scoring Averages – PTS/G: 108.0 (12th of 30) Opp PTS/G: 92.0 (4th of 30)

Preview

Well, that was fast. One night after taking on one division rival out of Los Angeles, the Suns are tasked with a second attempt, this time in Los Angeles, against the Clippers.

Two nights after their incredibly humiliating and disheartening loss to the Portland Trail Blazers on opening night, the Suns were matched up against the Los Angeles Lakers who feature rookie star point guard Lonzo Ball, the man selected two positions ahead of Phoenix, who took small forward Josh Jackson. Not a terrible consolation prize by any means, but after one head-to-head matchup, apparently not anywhere near as equal to one another as Suns fans had hoped.

After losing to Portland by a franchise and league opening night record 48 points, the Phoenix Suns shot, and scored, at a much higher clip than their first game, finishing with 130 points in the loss, and shooting a respectable 48.9% from the field. Most impressively, however, the Suns shot 14-29 from 3-point range, a 48.3% pace that would be exciting to see them continue throughout the season (or at least at about 40%).

The Suns fell behind early. However, unlike their game against the Blazers, they didn’t panic or completely fall apart demoralized, instead pushing to keep the game at a decent gap, never allowing the Lakers to lead by more than seven in the first half. Although the Suns gave up 40 points in the first quarter and were outscored by four, they flipped the books on Los Angeles and led for most of the second period scoring 37 points themselves to the Lakers’ 30.

Whereas Earl Watson touted the Suns’ second half stamina and ability to claw back into games during the preseason, this emotional response has been yet to appear in the first two games this season as the Suns not only lost their lead for good midway through the third quarter, but then found themselves down by double-digits (as many as 12 points) and with time on Los Angeles’ side late.

Phoenix Suns

Following an Eric Bledsoe layup with 13.1 second remaining, the Lakers held a four-point lead. After a nearly immediate intentional foul of Brook Lopez (who missed the second of his two free throws), Watson drew up an inbounds pass play that got Devin Booker wide open off of a cross court pass to Warren who flipped it to a streaking Booker at the right arch, who drained an almost Rex Champan-like three closing the gap to 131-130.

Brandon Ingram missed the first of two free throws after he was intentionally fouled, and after Bledsoe had the ball knocked out of bounds by Ball with 3.1 seconds left, T.J. Warren was fouled on a shot and given the opportunity to tie – a resolution he was unable to accomplish. After missing his first free throw, his second intentional miss resulted in the ball batted around, with no more opportunities to tie or win.

Warren, Bledsoe, and Booker each had the type of fantastic nights that the franchise expects from them each outing as they combined for 77 points on 28-55 (50.9%) shooting from the field, 8-15 (53.5%) from beyond the arc, 21 rebounds, 14 assists, and 6 steals. Booker led the team in scoring with 28 points, while Booker finished with 25 points, 11 rebounds (a career-high) and 8 assists. Warren compiled 24 points and 8 boards himself.

For the Lakers, Lonzo Ball led the way with career-highs of 27 points, 11 rebounds, and 9 assists. Brandon Ingram tallied 25 points and Brook Lopez finished with 19 points and 11 boards.

The early season schedule gets even tougher for Phoenix as the Suns travel for the first time, to Los Angeles, to face the 1-0 Pacific Division leading Clippers.

The Clippers handled the Lakers on opening night finishing with 16 point victory over their cross-campus rival. The Clippers led by 24 heading into the fourth quarter and by as many as 30 in the game, but it was the story of Patrick Beverley’s crushing defense on Lonzo Ball that made the headlines.

Within moments of the start of the game, Beverley had already picked up a personal foul while guarding Ball, as well as being on the positive end of a turnover by the former second overall pick. This pressure absolutely got under Ball’s skin and he was never able to make a positive mark on the outcome of the game. Ball would be shut down almost entirely and only played in 29:21 in his league debut, finishing with 3 points, 9 rebounds, and 4 assists.

There is no doubt at this point that Beverley’s smothering defense, coupled with that night being Ball’s first official NBA game, as the culminating factors in both the Clippers win, as well as Ball’s poor showing. Beverley will be expected to either shadow Eric Bledsoe or Devin Booker heavy this evening, either way, potentially shutting down any offensive backcourt mojo that had been accumulated against the Lakers.

Interesting Stats

Phoenix Suns

1. The Suns have allowed an average of 128 points per game in their first two games. This is the second worst defensive start in franchise history behind only the 1985-86 Suns who allowed 128 and 142 points in their first two games for an average of 135ppg. That team would allow 144 points in game three of the season as well, and 121+ in six of their first seven games.

2. Even after a good shooting night against the Lakers, the Suns are still averaging a dismal 40.3% from the field in two games, 28th overall in the league. How this will play out and continue is yet to be known, although it is probably fair to assume that the season stats will lay on the lower end as they only fired 45.0% from the field in 2016-17.

3. An improvement to their 3-point shooting would be a massive step forward this season as the Suns shot only 33.2% from beyond the arc all last year. Although through two games they have upped that to 37.5% which places them at 11th overall in the league thus far.

Next: What's next for Archie Goodwin?

Los Angeles Clippers

1. For L.A., point guard Milos Teodosic has a heap load of expectations placed on him as the Clippers have turned to the 30-year-old Serbian as the man who must fill the shoes of departed superstar, Chris Paul. In his NBA debut, Teodosic scored only 6 points, but dished out 6 assists in 21.5 minutes. Potentially like Ball, two nights ago being his North America professional opener, Teodosic may look to turn his game around against the obviously weak and porous Suns defense.

2. The Clippers grabbed 59 boards in their victory over the Lakers, which currently leads the league. After snagging 50 caroms against the Lakers themselves, the Suns now average 41.5 per game.

3. Since the 2011-12 season, the Los Angeles Clippers have been consistently fast starters. In 11-12 they began the season 7-3. In 2012-13 they opened up 8-2. In 13-14 they again opened the year with a 7-3 start. The following year, 14-15, they wrapped up their first ten games with only a 6-4 mark. However, they would go on a long streak soon after and through 21 games sit pretty at 16-5. In 2015-16 they opened the year 4-0, and last season 3-0 en route to a 14-2 start.