Phoenix Suns guard Ish Smith: Indiana game-like effort is there every night

It’s safe to say the Phoenix Suns came to play Wednesday night against the Indiana Pacers.

Indiana came into the game with the league’s best record and the game was being aired on ESPN, so the stage was bright. The Suns stepped up with a dominant 124-100 victory.

Phoenix shot 54.2 percent from the field and made 11-of-16 three-point attempts. They had nine turnovers compared to the Pacers’ 20, and out-assisted their opponents by one.

It was as good an effort as you’ll see from the 24-17 team, but not one guard Ish Smith thinks should be attributed to the team “getting up” for a big game.

“I’ll be honest with you,” he told the Burns and Gambo Show on Arizona Sports on 98.7 FM Thursday. “I’d be lying to you if I said it’s not true, but we prepare each and every game…we prepare and play each and every game like we played last night.

“Sometimes we make shots, sometimes we don’t make shots.”

He said the defensive effort is always there, so that if the team shoots the ball the way it did Wednesday night then yeah, they’ll be tough to beat.

But of course, they won’t always be playing the East’s top team on national TV.

“It could go either way,” he said of playing on that kind of stage. “You could be too nervous or too excited. But I thought we had a great balance.”

Smith played 14 minutes against the Pacers, connecting on four of his six shot attempts for 8 points while handing out 2 assists.

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