Takeaways From Suns' Narrow Win Against Warriors
The Phoenix Suns escaped the Golden State Warriors on opening night, 108-104. Both teams had rough shooting nights, particularly Golden State.
The Suns broke the game open to the tune of a 15-point lead going into halftime, looking like they would cruise to an easy opening night win. However, some sloppy play leading to Golden State transition buckets made it a nail-biter for Phoenix down to the final seconds.
Ultimately, the good guys came out on top. Some key takeaways lie below:
Devin Booker Looks to be in Midseason Form
Devin Booker already looks as if he's in midseason form.
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Booker came out of the gates on absolute fire last night, starting the game 8-for-10 from the floor. While the superstar guard did struggle with some turnover issues and cooled off a bit in the second half, the final five minutes of the game were managed beautifully by "Point Book".
Booker generated points for the team on their final eight possessions, finishing with 32 points, 8 assists, and came home with the win.
Bettors, now is the time to put money on Booker for MVP.
Eubanks, Nurkic Have Impressive Debuts
Jusuf Nurkic filled the shoes of Deandre Ayton just fine.
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One of the major concerns many in the basketball world had for Phoenix coming into the season was the lack of physicality and rim protection the team had.
It's true that it's only been one game, but newcomers Jusuf Nurkic and Drew Eubanks look like fantastic fits in the grand scheme of this season's team.
Nurkic was a strong presence on the block for nearly the entirety of his 28 minutes on the floor, chipping in 14 points, 14 rebounds, 3 assists and even a blocked shot. The Bosnian Beast even hit a three-ball.
Eubanks wasn't much of a scoring threat in his 19 minutes of game action, and that was perfectly fine. The former Blazer flashed the reasons why Phoenix decided to move on from Jock Landale in favor of him.
Eubanks product showed game-changing motor as well as athleticism in many key moments throughout the game, grabbing eight boards and blocking three shots.
This is certainly an encouraging start for the big men in the rotation.
Josh Okogie Looks Much Improved
Josh Okogie could be the perfect fifth starting piece for the Phoenix Suns.
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Suns wing Josh Okogie is coming into his second season in the Valley looking revitalized. The Georgia Tech alum came into his own down the stretch for Phoenix last regular season, but his lack of shooting consistency lead to former coach Monty Williams deciding to start Torrey Craig through a good amount of the playoff run.
Okokie had a fantastic on-ball showing on the defensive side of the ball, shadowing Warriors superstar Stephen Curry the majority of the night. Curry had a rough night, going 8-for-20 from the floor and 4-for-14 from three point range.
Okogie was also proactive on offense, making 7-of-9 attempts from the floor, grabbing four offensive boards, and hitting one of the biggest shots of the night, a corner three to put the Suns up two possessions late.
Coach Vogel was once again extremely complimentary of Okogie:
“I’m a big fan of his game as I’ve said many times, and he played it as well as anybody on the floor tonight. I mean he’s guarding Steph Curry basically every minute that he’s out there, chasing him around, using a lot of energy there and still finds his way with his cuts, crashes and drives to impact the game offensively which is not always the case when you gotta chase a guy like Steph. To do all that — by the way he had more than four offensive rebounds, he had about eight offensive rebounds and not as someone who’s been counting or whatever but he was a demon on the glass, and obviously the big three he really works on his craft and he’s an improved shooter and he’s gonna knock down big threes for us all year.”
If Okogie can continue to fit the billing as a much-improved player all around, the Suns will have a completely new wrinkle they can throw at opposing teams, and it would almost certainly raise the ceiling of this team.
Defense Largely Held Up
Frank Vogel's defense held up when it mattered most vs Golden State.
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The defensive personnel was an accompanying concern along with that of the big-man depth coming into the season. Once again, it's only game 1 of 82, however the defense did about as admirable job as possible last night, save for the third quarter.
Phoenix held Golden State to 104 points, sub-36% shooting from the field, and 23% from three-point range. The only Warriors to shoot 50 percent or better from the field were Jonathan Kuminga and Moses Moody.
Phoenix didn't particularly create many opportunities for the offense on the defensive end, only forcing 11 Warriors turnovers, but the turnovers they did create were usually very timely and stunted momentum that was being built.
Seven blocked shots and the struggles from Curry/Thompson/Paul/Wiggins also was a testament to how disciplined the Suns were both at the POA and on rotations. The rim protection was also rock solid, as alluded to earlier.
Seven blocked shots and countless forced errors in the paint was a direct result of players such as Eubanks playing enforcer down low.
The Warriors did in fact score 40 points in the third, but much of that can be attributed to coach Steve Kerr's genius and ability to adjust.
The Suns' defense did a largely amazing job on one of the most potent offenses in the NBA.
Phoenix plays game two of the season tomorrow night in Los Angeles, facing the Lakers at 7 PM Arizona time, once again being aired exclusively on TNT.
