The Suns bounced back with a much-needed victory over last-place Detroit Pistons.
The Suns decided to adjust last time by rolling along with a Deandre Ayton / Frank Kaminsky court to move Cam Johnson off the bench.
After the game, Monty Williams quoted that the league is going to run along the centers again with big fours these days, and that we might see it going forward (if we take Frank or Dario Saric there) against big setups.
While they got away with the win, it was not a smooth experience, and I think a lot of this win had more to do with Detroit than bad, rather than Phoenix playing well. They finally closed it, but there is still a lot to work on this team.
1st half
The first quarter was a back-and-forth affair with each team trading a few small runs, until Phoenix led 27 to 24 to close out the quarter.
They were led by the strong play of veteran guards E’Twaun Moore and Langston Galloway (who scored 5 points in less than 2 minutes with the check-in).
Cam Johnson also had a strong first half and put up 10 points on 7 shots.
Phoenix started pulling in second place really early, creating separation due to strong play from Chris Paul, Cam Johnson and Abdel Nader leading the lead on a 12-0 run.
The greats each scored strong numbers in the first half as Ayton posted 8 points and 8 boards while Frank the Tank continued his strong game with 9 points and 3 boards.
On the way to half the Suns led by a score of 57-to-44.
2nd half
The start of the third quarter was a bit sloppy and turbulent, while the refs became whistle-happy and the Suns asked for 4 offenses in less than 4 minutes of play. The Pistons started to reduce the lead to just 10.
Continued strong play from both E’Twaun Moore and Frank Kaminsky in the third quarter helped Phoenix extend its lead to 21 with 4 minutes to go in the third quarter.
The Pistons offensively hit a groove and struggled to rule out the third quarter, and Phoenix did not make them pay as much as they should have. They led the 4th quarter 87-68.
The Suns looked too comfortable early in 4th place as the Pistons started with a 6-0 run to reduce the lead to 13, leading to a timeout for Monty Williams to regroup.
Detroit kept it close for a while because the Suns could not find any rhythm, but eventually with 6:30 in the 4th Devin Booker and Chris Paul linked three tips in a row to give them a 17-point lead, which led to a timeout from Detroit.
Devin Booker and Chris Paul take over in the 4th quarter and they eventually lead out to a mostly sloppy game. Phoenix is happy that Detroit is not only a bad team, but also an exhausted team because it was not as impressive as the result.
At the end of the day, it was a team they had to beat and what they did, something they have not done much of this season yet.
Star of the game
Chris Paul- 20 points, 9 assists, 7 rebounds, 1 steal on 7/14 shooting.
Following: Suns vs Celtics- at 12pm on NBATV & FSNAZ