Suns Stunned in Road Loss to Magic
The Phoenix Suns were without the talents of Chris Paul, Cam Johnson and Landry Shamet on Friday night.
The Orlando Magic weren't looking for any excuses, though. They were missing the likes of Paulo Banchero on their side of the court.
With both squads facing injury troubles, it was Orlando who emerged victorious in fashion.
Following Wednesday's win over the Timberwolves, Suns coach Monty Williams praised the efforts of Mikal Bridges:
"It’s both ends of the floor. His shot-making is something that we don’t take for granted because when you think of Mikal, you think of energy and defense, but he has an ability to make shots in awkward situations, off cuts and slashes and reverse left-hand layups ... So, I think across the board our defense was pretty good, but Mikal's ability to generate that, it gives our team a lot of juice."
Tonight, Bridges scored eight points on 3-of-13 shooting. Every starter finished with a +/- of -16 or worse.
As a team, Phoenix shot just 31% from three-point land and were out-rebounded 50-38.
Orlando had zero fast break points and were led by Wendell Carter, who had 20 points and 10 rebounds.
Stepping up in the absence of Chris Paul was Cameron Payne, who paced the Suns with 22 points. This was just the third time all season where Devin Booker (17 pts) was held to under 20 points.
They trailed by 21 points at one point in the night.
With the loss, Phoenix drops down to 1-2 on their road trip. The final leg won't be until Monday where they stay in the state of the Florida to battle the Miami Heat.
It was a forgettable night all around for the Suns, and they hope to rebound (literally and figuratively) a few days from now in Miami.
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