Game Recap: Suns Close Preseason With Loss to Kings
The Phoenix Suns concluded their preseason against the Sacramento Kings on Wednesday without their starters on the floor.
Prior to the game, Monty Williams confirmed Chris Paul, Devin Booker, Mikal Bridges and Deandre Ayton would not play.
The Suns would only have ten players as Cameron Johnson, Cameron Payne, Landry Shamet and Dario Saric would be out of action as well. Saric (family) was the only player out of the four listed bench players to not be injured.
Ultimately, the Suns fell to the Kings in 105-104 fashion.
Here's how the action unfolded:
Phoenix Suns Starters
Duane Washington Jr.
Josh Okogie
Damion Lee
Torrey Craig
Jock Landale
First Half
Sacramento began with a 8-6 lead heading into the first timeout. Jock Landale and Torrey Craig knocked down threes to open the scoring for Phoenix.
Landale showed some aggression in the early stages of the game, shooting plenty of shots, grabbing rebounds and even blocking a shot in the opening minutes. He checked out with nine points, one rebound, one assist, one steal and one block.
Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot would commit a flagrant foul after closing into the landing space of a Kings shooter. Kevin Huerter would sink all three shots to cut Phoenix's lead to 18-15 with just over five minutes remaining.
The Suns would carry a 23-20 lead with 4:15 left in the first. Duane Washington would score eight points with two assists and two steals to his name up to that point.
Phoenix would finish the first quarter leading 32-24. Torrey Craig would snatch five rebounds. Bismack Biyombo would score four points and grab three rebounds in the last four minutes of the quarter.
The two squads would go back and forth, as Phoenix managed a 44-37 with 6:28 left in the first half.
In that stretch, Biyombo would join Landale as the only scorers with 10 or more points. On the opposite end of the spectrum, Ish Wainright would score zero points (on zero shots) through 11 minutes of play.
Phoenix would struggle to shoot the three-ball, making just 3-of-11 attempts.
The Suns would build their largest lead of the game, climbing up to a 14-point advantage with just under four minutes left in the first half.
Sacramento would finish the second quarter on a 13-2 run, heading into the break down 57-54.
Washington would pace Phoenix in points with 17 at the break. Landale would have an eye-opening four blocks through 17 minutes of play.
Second Half
Washington hit his career-high of 22 points in the early stages of the third quarter, though the Kings would take their first lead since 8-6, going ahead 67-65 with 6:48 left in the third. That would double to a whopping four-point advantage at the 4:38 timeout.
The Kings would build their lead thanks to a 15-4 run where the Suns practically couldn't hit the broad side of a barn.
Newly signed Suns guard Saben Lee played his first minutes in Phoenix, entering with 2:24 left in the third quarter. He made his first bucket on the ensuing possession before nearly making a steal on the other end.
Sacramento grew their lead to ten points with 30 seconds left in the quarter before a Lee-three and Biyombo block down on the other end of the court ensured Phoenix's deficit was 83-76 heading into the fourth.
Landale would successfully conver a four-point play after being fouled from beyond the arc. Soon after, Biyombo would get his double-double with 10:19 left in the game after his tenth rebound.
A 12-2 Phoenix run would tie the game before Lee put away both free throws to take a 90-88 lead with 7:46 left.
Yet the Kings would battle back, going on a 14-4 run to build a 102-94 lead with four minutes left.
The Suns would draw within four after a Wainright three-pointer, down 105-101 with 46.7 seconds remaining. Torrey Craig would hit another three to draw within one point.
Again, Washington would find himself with an opportunity to win the game, but missed his second game-winner on a jump shot from the post as time expired.
Sacramento would see out the 105-104 win to hand Phoenix their third loss in four preseason games.
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