Suns Strokes: Phoenix falls flat as Utah notches first road win of 2013

PHOENIX — The Phoenix Suns failed to get the win Saturday night against a hapless 3-15 Utah Jazz team.

The Jazz beat the Suns 112-104 on a night where Phoenix was flat out taken advantage of at US Airways Center.

Trey Burke led the Jazz in scoring with 20 points, while also grabbing six rebounds. Derrick Favors added 14 points and eight rebounds, including five offensive boards.

For the Suns, Goran Dragic had a game-high 24 points and nine assists in a losing effort. Channing Frye managed 17 points, making this his sixth straight game with at least 10 points.

The Suns shot 47.4 percent from the field Saturday night, making it the second-highest shooting percentage they have posted in a loss.

Phoenix is now 0-4 on the year when they play the second game of a back-to-back set.

THE GOOD

Goran Dragic proved yet again that he could be Phoenix’s go-to guy at the offense, as he finished with 24 points Saturday. Dragic was also only one assist shy of his fourth double-double of the season. Not to mention, he made 13 trips from the free throw line, hitting 11 of them.

Gerald Green and Eric Bledsoe both extended their career-long streaks of scoring in double-digits. Green now has eight games in a row, and Bledsoe’s streak is at 11 games.

THE BAD

The bench only provided 27 points, which is particularly disappointing after the show Markieff Morris put on Friday in Utah. He went from scoring 23 points to five on Saturday.

Gerald Green managed to get into foul trouble early on. He had four fouls going into halftime. Although it didn’t seem to affect his shot, it caused the Suns to overuse Bledsoe in the second half, when Burke tired him out.

STAT OF THE GAME

The Suns had only 13 fast break points against the Jazz. While Goran Dragic got to the line plenty, the rest of the team did not. The Jazz shot 29 free throws while the Suns only shot 25. They are now 2-8 when they shoot fewer free throws than their opponent.

HE SAID IT

“You come back from winning last night and I think they thought they were good,” Suns head coach Jeff Hornacek said of his team. “Our guys thought they could just show up tonight and win the game and in this game it doesn’t happen that way, but they don’t want to listen to it.”

NOTED

Eric Bledsoe came off the bench for the second straight night, but practically played starter minutes (28).

With Bledsoe back on the court, Ish Smith didn’t get any playing time. Neither did Slava Kravtsov for that matter.

UP NEXT

The Suns will head out on a mini two-game road trip. They travel to Memphis to take on the Grizzlies on Tuesday, December 3. Tip-off is scheduled for 6 p.m. MST with pre-game coverage starting 30 minutes prior on Arizona Sports 620.