Suns lean heavily on 4 rookies, fall to Spurs in 6th straight blowout

PHOENIX — New starting point guard, new backup point guard. New starting power forward, new rotation.

Every change on the table was made by Phoenix Suns coach Igor Kokoskov after five straight blowout losses. On Wednesday, he started rookie Elie Okobo at point guard with Isaiah Canaan and Devin Booker injured, then inserted forward T.J. Warren in the spot occupied previously by Ryan Anderson.

“I hope our rookies had a good nap this afternoon,” Kokoskov said before the game, speaking of Okobo and fellow point guard De’Anthony Melton.

Either way, they wouldn’t be sleeping well after a 120-90 loss to the San Antonio Spurs at Talking Stick Resort Arena.

“They’re sharper, stronger, quicker, more precise,” Kokoskov said after digesting the loss. “Result and the final score is basically saying a lot where we were tonight as a team.”

T.J. Warren led the Suns with 21 points, but he and center Deandre Ayton were stifled by San Antonio’s defense in the first half, combining for 12 points. By that time, the game was already out of hand.

The reality is this: the Suns don’t have enough talent among their veterans to weather such storms.

San Antonio shot 55 percent overall and rode 20-of-25 shooting for 49 points between stars DeMar DeRozan and LaMarcus Aldridge.

Phoenix, meanwhile, leaned on its four rookies.

Ayton (31 minutes), Okobo (28) Mikal Bridges (27) and Melton (20) all were among the top-six most-used players for the team. Meanwhile, veterans like Jamal Crawford (10 minutes), Tyson Chandler (nine) and Anderson (eight) sat.

For the first time in six games, the Suns didn’t let their opponent get into transition and didn’t get bludgeoned on the fastbreak, coughing it up just 15 times for 15 points. Phoenix even won the fastbreak battle, 22-4.

But it didn’t matter. After a decent start, San Antonio held the Suns to four points in the final 5:45 of the first quarter to put the home team behind 28-15. Phoenix wouldn’t eclipse the 28-point mark itself until 3:31 remained in the second quarter and trailed by 31 before a 10-0 Suns run closed the second quarter to make it a 60-39 deficit.

The Suns’ rookie point guards struggled. They scored 15 points and added six assists with four turnovers while combining to shoot 6-for-21.

Both players held their own chasing Spurs guards Bryn Forbes and Patty Mills over screens; the San Antonio duo scored 16 points on 5-of-13 shooting. But the Suns rookies also took a beating on the other end running an offense that shot 39 percent.

“They’re rookies. Patty Mills, every cut, every move, they can feel it,” Kokoskov said. “This is a different game. Different pace, different physicality, different level of basketball.

“They’re going to be there — someday.”

Backup forward Mikal Bridges also put together his best game of his young career, scoring six points in the 10-0 run that made the halftime deficit a little more respectable. He finished with 16 points on 6-of-9 shooting with three assists and two steals.

Despite the numbers and contributions, Bridges couldn’t escape his head coach’s criticism after the game.

“We can’t just put so much pressure on him and expect he’s going to win games. A lot of mental breakdowns, a lot of gameplan breakdowns when it comes to execution, knowing who you’re guarding, personnel,” Kokoskov said. “I think overall he’s growing as a player, getting better every game, but it’s not good enough for us to win games today.”

Ayton expressed the learning curve hitting him hard, too.

He and Chandler took the bulk of the damage from Aldridge and backup big man Pau Gasol, the former of whom hooked Ayton to spin off the rookie in the post and batted down the center’s arm-bars to get off post looks.

“He got me so many times it was ridiculous,” Ayton said. “Once he slaps your hand down, basically he broke the wall so he can like drive the shoulder in. That’s something that I learned.”

The Suns can’t lean on their veterans to carry much weight on offense, with Trevor Ariza’s 14 points and three assists on Wednesday a supplement and not a solution.

So it’s on their rookies. But Bridges, like Ayton, knows that a nice stat line doesn’t mean much. He’s being leaned upon — maybe too much — and still on a major learning curve. It’s going to take some time.

And more ugly losses.

“Definitely not (getting) easier. A little bit (is) slowing down,” Bridges said. “It’s the same start I had in college, feeling out games pretty fast and as time went on I feel like it’s starting to slow down. A little bit but still need some time.”

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