Suns look to rebound vs. winless Lakers
Denver must be pretty darn good, too. The Nuggets handed defending NBA champion Golden State its only loss Sunday night to set the stage for the Warriors to take out their frustrations Monday night on the Phoenix Suns.
“I think they were fired up after taking a loss,” Phoenix star guard Devin Booker said. “They came out with more purpose than us and it showed.”
So Phoenix (1-2) has lost to quality teams, but handed Dallas its only loss. Ironically, the Mavericks are 2-0 since losing that season-opening defeat as they’ve beaten Minnesota and Chicago.
The Suns have returned home and look to get back on track Wednesday night against a team that’s winless, but has the game’s best player — LeBron James.
The Los Angeles Lakers (0-3) may be even more desperate for a win considering all the hype about them with the addition of James, but the Suns want to turn their season around, too, after two poor road performances.
“Just being engaged, competing,” said Suns first-year coach Igor Kokoskov when asked after Monday’s loss what’s bothering him. “Once we compete, you play your best and you play against good teams, sometimes the better team wins. I don’t think we played our best. I don’t think we gave 100 percent.”
Phoenix fell victims to the transition game in losses at Denver and at Golden State.
The Nuggets scored 33 fast-break points in their 28-point win while the Warriors scored 34 in that department in beating the Suns by 20 after leading by as many as 30.
“Communicating better on defense has to get better,” Suns wing Josh Jackson said. “Getting back in transition and just being more physical. I don’t think we’ve been physical enough the past two games. We’ve been letting the offensive team kind of wander where they want to a little bit.”
Booker is the NBA’s sixth-leading scorer at 29.3 points a game, had 28 at Golden State, but committed a seasonhigh nine turnovers against the Warriors.
As a team, Phoenix had 21 turnovers that led to 29 Golden State points two days after allowing Denver 21 points off
its 19 turnovers.
“Those guys were talking,” Suns rookie 7-footer Deandre Ayton said about the Warriors. “They knew every play we were throwing at them.”
The Lakers have had their struggles, too, particularly on defense.
After Monday’s games, the Lakers were ranked last in points allowed per game at 131.7. San Antonio scored 142 points in its one-point victory at Los Angeles in the Lakers’ first game without Brandon Ingram and Rajon Rondo.
Ingram and Rondo received multiple suspensions for their part in a fight with Houston over the weekend. Rondo hit Chris Paul after Paul stuck his finger in his face while Ingram joined in the skirmish after being removed from the initial flare-up.
Ingram received a four-game suspension, Rondo drew three games and Paul was hit with a two-game suspension.
So the Lakers will once again be without two key players, but still have James – and that makes them a formidable opponent for Phoenix.
“We’ve just got to keep pushing,” Suns point guard Isaiah Canaan said. “… We’ll be ready to play the Lakers and give a better showing.”
With suspensions and new faces, the Lakers are still forming their identity early in the season.
“We know they’re a team that’s still, like us, trying to figure it out a little bit, so it’s going to be a little tricky tomorrow,” Jackson said after Tuesday’s practice. “A lot of things that they do are just on the fly.”
Kokoskov added that the way the Lakers are able to move James affects the game plan, but overall, the Suns’ focus is all on themselves instead of their opponent. Kokoskov thinks the loss at Golden State will propel the team forward for Wednesday's big matchup.
“It’s a challenging game. We’re playing at home, and we expect a reaction from our guys,” he said.