3 Key Takeaways From Suns' Preseason Opener vs Pistons

PHOENIX -- The Phoenix Suns had a promising showing in their 109-107 loss to the Detroit Pistons in their preseason opener Monday night.

The starters and top bench unit helped the Suns build a 68-50 halftime lead, but the third- and fourth-stringers ended up blowing the lead in the second half after Phoenix rested its main players following the first half.

Here were three major takeaways from Phoenix's first game since April 27:

Starting Lineup, Miles Bridges Impress

Miles Bridges started his Suns tenure with a bang, scoring the team's first seven points while showing great hustle that also led to a steal and offensive rebound during this spurt.

Bridges, who finished with eight points, five rebounds and four assists, looked like he fit right in with the starting group.

"We'll continue to highlight his strengths. His first basket was on the (offensive) glass. We're asking him to do that," Suns coach Jordan Ott said of Bridges postgame (via The Arizona Republic's Duane Rankin). "Defensively, he's going to guard them all. He's going to guard everyone out there. He's really good in transition, as we transition to offense, his ability to get it and go, really allows us to play in a ton of space without even having to get to the next advantage."

Miles Bridges with 7 points early pic.twitter.com/KZLwv3ajbE
— Phoenix Suns (@Suns) October 5, 2026

All in all, the entire starting lineup performed very well with their pressure defensively and quickness to push the ball offensively, which are two areas the Suns stress.

Devin Booker led the Suns with 13 points and was not afraid to let it fly all over the floor after saying he wanted to shoot more this season, while Jalen Green and Dillon Brooks chipped in 11 points apiece as both players try to find their spots in an offense filled with scorers.

No Clear Winner of Center Battle

Oso Ighodaro got the start in the opener, while Khaman Maluach came off the bench in the first look at the starting center battle after Mark Williams suffered a torn labrum this offseason.

Neither player showed anything spectacular in the first game to indicate the battle swinging one way or another, although Maluach (six points, two rebounds in 17 minutes) looked more comfortable around the rim than he did last year and Ighodaro (three points, five rebounds, two assists in 14 minutes) had some nice passes of his own.

"Just trying to keep getting better. Me and Man-Man (Maluach) have been pushing each other all summer. Both have gotten a lot better. Whoever starts, whoever doesn't, we'll come in and impact the game," Ighodaro said postgame (via Rankin).

Phoenix values Ighodaro's experience after he played in all 82 games last season, which included 24 starts, so this could eventually lead to him having the upper hand at least to start the year.

"Oso was really good last year. Top-10 defensive center. He was great last year. Love where he's headed," Ott said. "We love where Man-Man is going. In these type of situations, we get to see both. That first 10 players that played were really good and both of them were part of that."

Identity Shines Through in First Half, Fadesf in Second Half

Jordan Goodwin (seven points, six rebounds - three offensive, three steals), Collin Gillespie (eight points, 3-for-3 shooting) and Luke Kennard (nine points) all had great showings off the bench to complement the starters.

They continued to play intense defense, crash the offensive glass and freely shot the ball with great rhythm to build off the starting group's strong outing.

One curious note about the bench was that the Suns elected to play Ryan Dunn over Rasheer Fleming as the backup power forward, although Fleming did end up with the most minutes on the team (18) despite not playing in the first half.

In the second half, the Pistons' deep bench looked a lot more connected than Phoenix's, which led to the Suns squandering the lead, which was highlighted by a staggering 22 second-half turnovers.

At this point, this is not a major cause for concern given that these players won't see many minutes anyway, and they still have four more games to come together more.

However, it would have been more encouraging to see everyone play with the same effort the first and second units showed.

"Two things can be true. The first half, that was the defensive intensity we want to bring every night," Ott said (via Rankin). "I thought Dillon (Brooks) was fantastic on the ball. Jalen (Green) was great defensively. Just our overall intent defensively was at a high level in the first half, and in the second half, that can also be true. Their defensive intensity, how they played very similar to how we want to play. They forced us into turnovers."

The Suns' next preseason game is Wednesday night at 5 p.m. MST against the Chicago Bulls.

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