The Suns recovered with a necessary victory against the Detroit Pistons, last place, on Friday night.
The Suns decided to make a last-minute adjustment to the lineup by rolling with a Deandre Ayton / Frank Kaminsky attack court, putting Cam Johnson back on the bench.
After the game, Monty Williams mentioned that the championship is becoming big these days, with four big ones again next to the centers, and that we can see that way in the future (assuming Frank or Dario Saric there) against big teams.
Although they came out with the victory, it was not an easy experience and I think that much of that victory had more to do with Detroit being very bad than with Phoenix playing well. They closed at the end, but there is still a lot to work for this team.
1st half
The first quarter was a case of back and forth with each team negotiating a couple of small runs until Phoenix moved 27 to 24 to close the quarter.
They were led by the strong game of veteran guards E’Twaun Moore and Langston Galloway (who scored 5 points less than 2 minutes after check-in).
Cam Johnson also had a strong first half, scoring 10 points from 7 shots.
Phoenix really started moving forward at the start of the second, creating separation due to the strong game of Chris Paul, Cam Johnson and Abdel Nader leading the attack in a 12-0 streak.
Each of the greats posted strong numbers in the first half, with Ayton posting 8 points and 8 bags, while Frank the Tank continued his strong game with 9 points and 3 bags.
Going to the midfield, the Suns lead by 57 to 44.
2nd part
The start of the third quarter was a bit sloppy and agitated with the referees being happy, scoring the Suns for 4 fouls in less than 4 minutes of play and the Pistons reduced the lead to just 10.
The strong and continued game of E’Twaun Moore and Frank Kaminsky in the third quarter helped Phoenix extend their lead to 21-4 minutes from the end in the third quarter.
The Pistons hit an obstacle offensively and struggled bravely to close the third quarter, and Phoenix did not make them pay as much as they should. They entered the 4th period winning by 87-68.
The Suns looked very comfortable at the beginning of day 4, when the Pistons started a 6-0 race to reduce the lead to 13, which led to Monty Williams’ timeout to regroup.
Detroit stayed close for a while, as the Suns couldn’t find a rhythm, but finally at 6:30 on the 4th Devin Booker and Chris Paul hit three consecutive points to give them a 17 point lead, leading to a timeout Detroit boundary.
Devin Booker and Chris Paul took over in the 4th quarter and finally performed after a rather sloppy game. Phoenix is lucky that Detroit is not only a bad team, but also exhausted, because that was not as impressive as the box scoreboard looked.
At the end of the day, this was a team that they should win and win, which they haven’t done much this season.
Game star
Chris Paul – 20 points, 9 assists, 7 rebounds, 1 steal in the 7/14 pitch.
Next: Suns vs. Celtics – at 12pm on NBATV and FSNAZ