Phoenix Suns with momentum heading into long road trip

PHOENIX – In baseball, they say momentum is only as good as that day’s starting pitcher. In football, it’s hard for momentum to carry over from week to week—right, Arizona Cardinals? But in basketball, and specifically the NBA with games spaced so closely together, teams can build momentum with one win after another.

At least that’s the hope of the Phoenix Suns.

“Absolutely, absolutely. Especially with a young team,” center Tyson Chandler said. “You need to see some kind of success because you need to understand what you’re working towards and the best way of learning that is having success out there and then being able to grow from the success. Even when you have your lulls, as long as you’re playing the right way you’re able to tweak it but when everything out there is wrong, you don’t know where to start.”

After three straight losses, including two 40-point blowout defeats, a coaching change and their starting point guard sent home, the Suns have won back-to-back games under interim head coach Jay Triano.

Beating Sacramento and Utah in the span of three days has the Suns believing in themselves once again. Effort and energy has been the key.

“That’s what it comes to,” said guard Devin Booker, who turns 21 (finally) during the Suns’ upcoming road trip. “We’re not worried about wins and losses or the score; we’re just going out there and playing hard.”

Following a 75-minute practice Friday, the Suns embarked on their first extended road trip of the season: Five games in nine days, beginning Saturday in Portland to face a Trail Blazers team that embarrassed them on Opening Night with a franchise-worst 48-point loss.

Given the recent off-court events and on-court results, that Oct. 18 meeting seems like weeks, not days, ago.

And what the Suns have shown in their last two games—compared to the three games prior—has been nothing short of impressive. For one, they’re playing solid defense and two, they’re playing with the lead. In their wins over Sacramento and Utah, the Suns have trailed for a total of 14 seconds.

“I think we’ve kind of showed that we can do it at home and now we got to figure out how to do it on the road. We don’t want to get ahead of ourselves. We beat a team that might not be a playoff team and we beat a team playing on a back-to-back, so let’s put everything in check,” said Triano, who replaced Earl Watson and is playing a lineup minus Eric Bledsoe.

“We’re going to play a very good team in Portland, and we got a tough road trip ahead of us against teams—Brooklyn is playing extremely well, Washington is playing very well. It’s not like it’s an easy trek. But, we’re not really concerned about our opponents. We’re concerned about our development, making sure we keep getting better.”

Marquese Chriss update

Two days after spraining his left ankle against the Jazz, forward Marquese Chriss was on the court for a portion of practice, according to Triano.

Chriss did not practice Thursday.

How Chriss responds to Friday’s work and the flight to Portland will determine how much, if at all, he plays against the Trail Blazers.

“We’ve talked about keeping the second unit intact because they’ve done very well with Dragan (Bender) part of that and moving Jared Dudley in—as he gets a little bit healthier—for a quick start,” Triano said, adding Chriss will be re-evaluated at shootaround. “But, I don’t need to make a plan until we have to make a plan and right now, it looks like Marquese was OK for part of the practice today so that’s good.”

The other option the Suns are considering is to play small “which against Portland would probably be an OK thing to do,” Triano said, “but we don’t want to get into playing against people as much as we want to build what we’re trying to do.”

Triano vs. Terry Stotts

Though he’s been back several times since, Triano is looking forward to his return to Portland, where for four seasons he was Terry Stotts’ lead assistant. Together, the two helped guide the Trail Blazers to three playoff appearances, including a pair of trips to the conference semi-finals.

In 2016, Triano left Portland to join Watson’s staff.

“Good memories. We’re still good friends,” Triano said, referring to Stotts. “He’s the first guy to congratulate me on the wins the last couple of days and also remind me that the streak will end at two.

“We have such a good relationship. It’s easy-going and it’s fun. I learned a lot from him. When you’re in battles with somebody everyday trying to figure out strategies for four years, you build a great bond and not just with Terry but with the rest of the staff in Portland.”

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