Phoenix Suns bring down the house with convincing win over San Antonio: By the numbers

Feb 22, 2014, 5:15 AM | Updated: 6:28 am

Arizona Sports

The Phoenix Suns took full advantage of a San Antonio Spurs team missing Tony Parker and Kawhi Leonard from its backcourt Friday at US Airways Center. Phoenix opened up the game with a 28-12 second quarter, and its bench got plenty of run in the second half as the team cruised to a 106-85 win.

The Suns hadn’t had a home win over San Antonio since the very last game of the 2010-2011 season. The Spurs had won 8-of-9 against Phoenix entering Friday’s contest.

With the victory, the Suns improved to 33-21 on the season — one-half game ahead of Golden State for the sixth-best record in the Western Conference. San Antonio dropped to 40-16, but retained the second-best mark in the West.

Here’s a look at Friday’s contest by the numbers:

1

The Suns wore their orange-sleeved alternate jersey for just the third time all season and recorded their first win in the threads.

4

Spurs guard Patty Mills came into the game red hot, averaging 21 points over his last seven contests. That all ended Friday, however, as the fifth-year Australian only managed four points against the Suns — and shot 2-of-14 from the floor along the way. He missed all six of his 3-point attempts.

8

Suns leading scorer Goran Dragic had a quiet night, making only 3-of-10 shots and finishing with eight points — his lowest total in approximately two months. It didn’t matter much, though, as the team’s bench handled the brunt of the scoring.

9

Rookie guard Archie Goodwin had one of his best games of the season for Phoenix. The Kentucky product got 14 minutes of action as the Suns built a big lead, and he made 3-of-5 shots and finished with nine points, his second-highest total since he entered the NBA.

12

The victory gave the Suns their highest number of wins over .500 (12) that they’ve been at all season.

15

Backup point guard Ish Smith was hot from the field and made a big impact in the first half, when he scored 10 of his career-high 15 points. In 31 minutes, Smith made 7-of-9 field goals and also had two blocks, two steals, four assists and a career-high-tying seven rebounds.

17

Power forward Channing Frye extended his streak of games with a 3-pointer to a season-high 15 games. Frye led all starters with 17 points. He made 2-of-7 shots from downtown and added eight rebounds, three steals and a block in 37 minutes.

18

The normally-surehanded Spurs turned it over 18 times at US Airways Center, which helped lead to 23 fast-break points for Phoenix. The Suns held onto the ball slightly better, giving it away 15 times.

21

Backup forward Markieff Morris scored a game-high 21 points, reaching double-figures for the fourth straight game — and the 16th time in his last 17 contests. Morris stuffed the stat sheet in other ways Friday night, recording two blocks, three steals, five rebounds and a season-high five assists.

34.9

The Suns held the Spurs to a season-worst 34.9 percent shooting. San Antonio’s 85 points also represented the second-fewest allowed in a game for the Suns in 2013-14. The Spurs also shot a measly 9.5 percent from 3-point land, making just 2-of-21 tries.

60

Phoenix’s bench scored 60 points in total, compared to 34 by the Spurs’ reserves. Other than Smith, Goodwin and Markieff Morris, another reserve that stood out was Marcus Morris, who scored 13 points on 5-of-11 shooting in 25 minutes.