Jackson, Bender lead Suns past Jazz in Vegas Jackson shows his strength
LAS VEGAS – Josh Jackson had a double-double and Dragan Bender had 16 first-half points to help lead the Phoenix Suns to a 97-81 win against the Utah Jazz on Wednesday in the first round of the Las Vegas Summer League tournament.
It was the team’s defense that allowed the Suns to hold on for the victory, finishing with 11 blocks and holding the Jazz to just 36.1 percent shooting from the field and 30.4 percent from beyond the arc.
Phoenix trailed at the half 42-40, but came out strong to start the third and ended up leading for almost all of the second half. Jackson had 21 points and 15 rebounds, Bender added 18 and five rebounds, while Davon Reed came off the bench to score 15 points.
“(Jackson’s) a gamer,” Suns coach Marlon Garnett said. “He’s aggressive, we know what he can do on the defensive end, and we want to continue to tap into what he can do on the offensive end because he’s so versatile. He can play one through four really. His game is just going to continue to expand as his confidence and shot gets better.”
Mike James notched 18 points and dished out seven assists, and Marquese Chriss also reached double figures, scoring 13. Eric Griffin scored 18 points and had 10 rebounds for Utah.
It should have been an easy two points for Jazz center Julian Wright in the first quarter. The big man received the pass and went straight up to the hoop, only to be denied by Jackson, who came in seemingly out of nowhere for the block. The ball, instead of falling through the net, was grabbed by the Suns and taken back the other way for a Chriss jam, giving the Suns the lead. Meanwhile, Jackson hovered over Wright – also a former Kansas Jayhawk – staring him down like a player that knew he was the best on the court.
Later in the third quarter, Jackson caught up to Wright yet again and blocked his layup from behind.
“(Jackson’s) able to take over a game,” Chriss said. “I think it’s hard for people to guard him. You saw on the last possession they had to foul him. He was pretty much toying with them. He gets to the hoop whenever he wants, he’s getting jump shots whenever he pleases.”
Jackson was impressive in nearly all aspects of Wednesday’s game. He clearly is a defensive stud and can match up with most players. He showed his rebounding ability as well, grabbing eight boards.
“Our first few games we knew weren’t playing as good of defense as we could and tonight we pressured the ball and rim protectors protected the rim,” Jackson said.
Bender breaks out in first half
Second-year forward Dragan Bender averaged 11 points and six rebounds through the team’s first three summer league games. He broke out Wednesday, scoring 18 points. He scored 16 in the first half alone, making three of his five 3-point attempts in the half. He had struggled from 3 this summer, shooting just 6-for-21 in the first three games.
“We knew that we had to win today,” Bender said. “These last two games weren’t good for us, and we changed some things in practice, we changed our approach.”
For a player his size, he still isn’t much of a defensive force, but he did block a shot and had four rebounds.
Block party
It wasn’t just Jackson that was swatting shots. Chris Obekpa was a surprise off the bench, blocking four shots. He made a significant difference on the defensive end against the Jazz big men. The Suns had 11 blocks, with six different players pitching in. In addition to Obekpa’s four, Jackson and Chriss each had two, while Bender, Davon Reed and Derrick Jones Jr. had one apiece.
“We had Obekpa back today that we didn’t have the last couple games and he’s definitely a good shot blocker, rim protector and alters a lot of shots,” Garnett said. “I think that his presence helped as well.”
Obekpa, a 6-9 forward, went undrafted in 2016 and played last season with the Santa Cruz Warriors of the G-League. He played three seasons at St. John’s University before transferring to UNLV, where he sat out a year as required, but then chose to declare for the NBA draft. He had played just 10 minutes in one game this summer for the Suns.
Looking ahead
With the win, the Suns advance in the winners bracket and will play the No. 4 seed Memphis Grizzlies at 5 p.m. Thursday at Cox Pavilion in Las Vegas. The Grizzlies went 3-0 in pool play, and have been led by guard Wayne Selden Jr., who is averaging 22 points per game.
“We want to win every game we play,” Jackson said. “We wish we were 4-0 in this, it’s too bad we can’t be. We’re going to try win every game we play from now on.”
Follow Andrew Vailliencourt on Twitter: @AndrewVcourt