In their first official game back, the Phoenix Suns took down the Washington Wizards to kick things off the right way.
The Phoenix Suns took care of business in their first regular-season game since the middle of March against the Washington Wizards, winning 125-112 in a game that was both a must-win and one they should have won.
It wasn’t always pretty, but it was pretty enough to get the job done and with one meaningful game under their belt, they may be ready to pull off some upsets.
In the beginning, the loose Suns we saw in the scrimmage games looked to be playing a little tight, almost as if they knew they were supposed to win and were trying to simply not mess it up.
It was Dario Saric, fresh off a twisted ankle and Cam Payne, in his first official game with his new team, who provided the early energy and scrappiness off the bench that made it so a team full of scrappy players on the Wizards didn’t out-scrappy them.
To win the NCAA championship, a team has to win six straight games (seven if they are in the First Four). That more or less the position the Phoenix Suns find themselves. While it isn’t exactly a win-or-go-home format, they need all eight games of the regular-season return to give themselves a good shot at making the play-in game.
Survive and advance has to be this team’s mentality. They have to play every game like it is their last because one loss and it may be just that.
Here are four takeaways from a solid game-one win: