Suns Silence Jazz, Get Swagger Back in Convincing Win
PHOENIX -- Following a tough loss to the Los Angeles Lakers and still without the talents of Devin Booker and Bradley Beal, many wondered if the Phoenix Suns would be able to handle a Utah Jazz squad fresh off an upset over the Los Angeles Clippers.
They certainly held their end of the bargain, and more.
In their season opener at the Footprint Center, the Suns cruised to an easy 126-104 victory over Utah to improve to 2-1 on the season.
Without Beal/Booker, the Suns rolled out the same starting lineup seen on Thursday with Grayson Allen, Eric Gordon, Josh Okogie, Kevin Durant and Jusuf Nurkic.
Prior to the game, coach Frank Vogel spoke on the issues Utah presents with such a massive lineup.
“Well, they got a really big starting lineup, so the boards are a concern. Mark (Lauri Markkanen) can be a really challenging matchup, is a concern and we got J.O. (Josh Okogie) who can guard one through four and guard different positions, but they got Clarkson (Jordan) out there too. So you got to figure out how to slow both of those players, elite players. Tucker (Talen Horten-Tucker) is an exceptional downhill player that gives us great concern and they have a really good team.”
Phoenix held a lead as much as 35 in the win. Utah got out to a 4-0 start, quickly lost the lead and were never able to recover.
Phoenix saw six players finish in double-digit scoring. Durant led the way with 26 points. Nurkic failed to secure another double-double but notched 10 points, seven rebounds, six assists, two steals and one block.
Drew Eubanks (12) and Jordan Goodwin (12) both scored plenty off Phoenix's bench.
Jazz forward John Collins secured a double-double with 11 points and ten rebounds in the loss. Three Utah starters scored seven points or less.
As a team, the Suns shot a strong 52% from the field and forced 19 turnovers, though they were out-rebounded 46-39.
The Suns will be back on Tuesday to host the first of two games against the San Antonio Spurs.
