Game Report: Bench responds as Suns earn first preseason victory

Coming off an embarrassing performance against the Adelaide 36ers on Sunday, the Phoenix Suns needed a lift from their bench as they faced the Los Angeles Lakers in Las Vegas on Wednesday.

While it wasn’t always pretty, the bench responded as Phoenix overcame a double-digit deficit to claim a 119-115 victory. Head coach Monty Williams was forced to use 14 players in the contest, with early minor injuries to Cameron Johnson and Cameron Payne limiting them to just four and one minute of game time respectively.

It could prove a blessing though with improved performances from a number of players vying for regular season rotational minutes. Meanwhile, the Lakers had their own injury concern as Anthony Davis was ruled out with back soreness just before tip-off.

While preseason rust was still well and truly evident, the Phoenix Suns managed to deliver a four-point victory over the Los Angeles Lakers on Wednesday.

Many of the same issues from Sunday appeared to carry over to the early periods, particularly a lack of defensive intensity as the Lakers feasted on transition points and wide open threes. Phoenix had no answer for LeBron James, his 23 points in 17 minutes (8-for-11 shooting) catapulting Los Angeles to 69 first-half points.

Phoenix were able to muster enough offense to remain within seven, largely thanks to their All-Star guards in Devin Booker (22 points) and Chris Paul (13 points and 10 assists). Their other three starters had little impact; Johnson left the game early, Mikal Bridges fouled out after 20 minutes with just four points on 1-for-8 shooting, and Deandre Ayton was rarely inefficient with seven points on 3-for-12 shooting.

But while the starters all recorded negative plus-minuses, key role players produced off the bench in positive signs. After still trailing 90-80 with less than three minutes remaining in the third, Phoenix finished the game on a 39-25 run.

Landry Shamet finished with 21 points in 15 minutes, demonstrating his elite three-point shooting ability by going 5-for-7 from deep on a mixture of catch-and-shoot and off-the-dribble makes.

Jock Landale and Dario Saric have further placed their stake as the Suns frontcourt bench options, with the Australian presenting as the surprise positive of the preseason thus far. He had 14 points and seven rebounds with two threes, while Saric made his return in a Suns jersey with 12 points and four rebounds.

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Duane Washington Jr, Frank Jackson and Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot played their first games for Phoenix, with the latter being the most prominent as he recorded a team high +20 in 19 minutes of action.

The Suns aggressiveness on the offensive boards helped them to a staggering 23 extra field-goal attempts, making up for their inferior field-goal percentage (37.1% compared to Lakers’ 42.7%).

While there’s still plenty to work on, the Suns got back to a winning feeling for the first time since game five of the Conference Semifinals. Phoenix now have a small break before taking on the Denver Nuggets next Monday in their third of four preseason games.