Suns Strokes: Defense shrinks during first half in loss to Pelicans

PHOENIX — Life is tough enough on the Phoenix Suns when Devin Booker has it going.

When he doesn’t, the offense wilts. That wasn’t even the biggest problem for the Suns on Friday against the New Orleans Pelicans, who began pulling away late in the first quarter and blew the game open in the second en route to a 115-91 victory at Talking Stick Resort Arena.

“It was the inability to contain,” interim coach Jay Triano said. “Nine out of 15 threes in the first half was based on our guys not being able to keep the ball-handler in front of them and then losing track of their man.

“The best thing that happened today was our shootaround,” he added. “We got good work and we got better at our shootaround. We didn’t get better tonight.”

New Orleans shot 58 percent overall in the first half, recording 18 assists in the process. The Pelicans led 72-42 as the Suns only connected on 34 percent of their attempts.

By halftime, New Orleans big men DeMarcus Cousins and Anthony Davis had scored 15 points apiece and combined for 16 rebounds and five assists as they joined New Orleans’ starting guard trio of Rajon Rondo, Jrue Holiday and E’Twaun Moore in beating the Suns off the dribble and breaking down the defense.

The perimeter group, led by Holiday, also got the best of Booker, who not only shot 4-of-13 from the field but couldn’t hunt down attempts as the Pelicans pulled away.

“If they had a chance to win, we wanted it to be from the other guys on their team,” Cousins said of Booker and Warren.

The Suns prepared for the Pelicans’ unique lineup with a new starting lineup of the usual perimeter trio of Tyler Ulis, Booker and T.J. Warren joined by centers Tyson Chandler and Greg Monroe.

That experiment didn’t get more than a brief glimpse because Monroe exited five minutes in with foul trouble. When the Suns cycled Chandler out of the lineup for a small-ball unit led by Marquese Chriss and Dragan Bender in the second quarter, things had already begun spiraling as New Orleans led 33-21 after the first quarter.

As the defensive effort waned, Phoenix’s offense stalled as the Pelicans hounded Booker. He finished with 13 points to go with six turnovers.

“They’re a good team,” he said. “A lot of older guys over there that understand strengths and weaknesses, and they played to those today, made it hard on me.”

The halftime message from Triano worked to some degree.

The Suns’ defense held New Orleans to 22 and 21 points in the final two periods, holding the Pelicans to 0-of-12 three-point shooting, but the damage had already been done.

“There’s no excuses. Our energy this morning at shootaround was better than that at the game. I think a lot of that is our resolve,” Triano said. “It’s kind of like the Houston game, like, maybe we can’t compete, so we stop trying.

“I think it’s a mental toughness thing. I told them at halftime, I’d say the same thing to them at half if we were up by 30. It’s not about the score, play one possession at a time, and I don’t want you to play score.”

THE GOOD

Warren led the Suns with 18 points and went 7-of-14 from the floor.

With Monroe in foul trouble and playing only 12 minutes, Alex Len earned 19:26 of playing time after sitting out Phoenix’s last game Wednesday against the Bucks as Chandler and Monroe played. The center scored five points to go with 12 rebounds. “We’re trying to win games. If I think Alex can help us, I’ll put him in,” Triano said before the game. “It’s tough to balance three guys like that. Unique things have to happen, or you have to play a different type of team, different style of team (for him to get minutes behind the other two centers).”

Ulis scored a season-high 17 points on 8-of-15 shooting to go with two assists.

Rookie forward Josh Jackson scored 14 points — though on 6-of-15 shooting — to go with five rebounds and two assists.

THE BAD

Booker has scored fewer than 15 points just four times this season, and two of those times came in the first three games of the year. The Suns’ average margin of defeat when he doesn’t reach 15 points: 30.8 points.

Coming into the night hitting just nine percent of his three-point shots, Warren drilled his third three of the season with the first bucket of the game for Phoenix. That was half of the three-point production on the evening as the Suns finished 2-for-20 on the day.

Cousins finished with 19 points, 10 rebounds and six assists, while Davis led New Orleans with 23 points. They combined to shoot 15-of-24 from the floor.

QUOTED

“Just effort. One of those nights they’re making everything and we just got discouraged.”

— Devin Booker on the Suns’ poor defense.

STAT OF THE GAME

0-for-19: It explained the offensive issues but was also minor consolation for the Suns’ defensive improvement spanning the halves. They and Pelicans combined to miss all 19 of their three-point attempts in the second half. It’s the first time both teams have not hit a three since Orlando visited Washington on Feb. 9, 2015, per the Elias Sports Bureau.

UP NEXT

The Suns face the Timberwolves on the road Sunday at 1:30 p.m. The game will air on ESPN 620 AM.

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