Suns Strokes: Suns’ rally falls short, drop season opener

Sure, you could read the box score and know who won, but we all know that won’t tell you everything that happened in a basketball game. So, we will give you Suns Strokes providing you with the analysis, quotes and notes from the Suns’ 87-85 loss to the Golden State Warriors on October 31.
Final Score: Warriors 87, Suns 85

The Story:

The Suns led 74-66 and got outscored 22-11 with Carl Landry scoring 12 of his game-high 17 points over the final 8:41. Landry scored six of the Warriors’ final eight points, including what proved to be the game-winning 17-footer with 54 seconds to play.

The Good:

Phoenix held Stephen Curry and David Lee to a combined 4-of-30 field goal shooting. The Suns held the Warriors to 38.4% shooting from the field.

Goran Dragic in his first career regular season home start as a Sun compiled 17 points, 8 assists and 6 rebounds.

Marcin Gortat tied a career-high with five blocked shots, including four in the third quarter.

The Bad:

Phoenix lost its third straight opening night game despite rallying back from a 17-point deficit.

The Suns got outrebounded 49-44 but 17-11 on the offensive end. The Warriors scored only 12 second chance points.

He Said It:

“To me, am I disappointed, yeah. I think there were a lot of good things, yes I do. Do I think we’ll get better? Hell yeah, I think we’ll get much better.” — Suns head coach Alvin Gentry

Noted:

Michael Beasley played 22:08, fewest of any starter; and not a single minute in the 4th quarter.

P.J. Tucker had not scored a point in an NBA game since March 3, 2007 at Cleveland. He played a career-high 23:04 minutes, scoring 10 points (5-9 FG) which was two points off his career-high. His previous career-high minutes played (20) and his career-high points scored (12) came vs. Suns on December 19, 2006.

North Carolina head coach Roy Williams was in attendance.

Up Next:

The Suns (0-1) host the Detroit Pistons Friday night at U.S. Airways Center. Tip-off is at 7:00 p.m.

Follow @AZSports