Suns Strokes: Phoenix falls to undefeated Grizzlies after turnover-plagued night

It’s hard to win in the NBA when you turn the ball over.

A season-high 21 turnovers doomed the Suns as they opened a five-game homestand with a 102-91 loss to the Memphis Grizzlies in front of 15,377 at US Airways Center on Wednesday.

It was the first home loss of the season and the fifth straight defeat to the Grizzlies, who improved to 5-0, matching Houston for the best record in the league.

The Suns (3-2) had four players in double figures, led by Eric Bledsoe’s 23 — he made his first eight field goal attempts — and Markieff Morris’ 20. Isaiah Thomas added 15 points of his own and Gerald Green had 11 off the bench.

Behind Bledsoe’s 16 first half points, the Suns took a six-point lead, 52-46, into the locker room.

But all momentum was lost after halftime.

The Suns were outscored 30-19 with two more turnovers (eight) than made field goals (six) in the third quarter. Bledsoe accounted for four of the turnovers and finished with a career-high nine for the game.

Memphis was led by Mike Conley and Courtney Lee ,who combined to shoot 18-of-28 for 45 points, including seven-of-nine from 3. Lee had missed the past two games because of a concussion.

Memphis held a 46-32 edge in points in the paint.

THE GOOD

In the game’s first nine minutes, Bledsoe had more points (eight), rebounds (three) and assists (two) than he did the entire night before at the Los Angeles Lakers. He finished the quarter with 14 points on a perfect five-of-five shooting, putting him in double figures for the fourth time in five games.

An all-bench lineup spurred a 16-4 second quarter run to give the Suns their largest lead of the first half, 43-32 at 5:41. Gerald Green scored nine points, including a step-back 3. He was good on all four of his free throw attempts, attacking the Memphis defense with relative ease.

Markieff Morris scored the first four and six of the first eight Suns points of the game. He hit back-to-back jumpers, then later drove baseline using a nifty duck under move past Zach Randolph. Morris finished the half with 13 points, putting him in double figures for all five games.

P.J. Tucker had game-highs with 11 rebounds and four steals. His 11 rebounds matched the combined output of Randolph and Marc Gasol. Randolph began the day as the fourth-best rebounder in the league at 12.3 per game.

THE BAD

A sign of things to come? After controlling the opening tip, the Suns committed a shot clock violation on their first possession of the game.

After taking their largest lead (six points) of the first quarter, the Suns surrendered an 11-1 run with Conley and Randolph each scoring four points to turn an 11-5 deficit into a 16-12 advantage at the 6:04 mark.

The third quarter was rough for the Suns, who were outscored 30-19, including 25-12 the final 10:04, at which time the Grizzlies scored 13 unanswered points. The Suns shot 35.3 percent (6-of-17) compared to the Grizzlies’ 54.2 percent (13-of-24).

Through three quarters, Bledsoe had nearly as many turnovers (seven) as made field goals (eight). He fumbled it away three times in the first quarter and four times in the third quarter, when as a team, the Suns gave the ball away eight times, which the Grizzlies converted into 12 points.

Goran Dragic missed six of his nine field goal attempts, including both of his 3-point looks, and finished with six points. It was the first time he failed to hit double figures in five games this season.

STAT OF THE GAME

21 & 26: The number of Suns turnovers and the number of Grizzlies points off those turnovers

HE SAID IT

“Turnovers got us,” said head coach Jeff Hornacek, who then pointed to the third quarter. “We got careless with the ball, had a lot of turnovers and they start the third quarter with a bunch of layups. We didn’t contest layups. Games aren’t always won and lost at the end of the game. I thought that one was lost in the third quarter.”

NOTED

Bledsoe became the first starter to lead the team in scoring. In each of the Suns’ first four games of the season (as well as the final two games last season), the team’s leading scorer has been a player off the bench.

The Suns’ loss snapped a 30-game winning streak at US Airways Center by its tenants as the Suns (five wins), Phoenix Mercury (20 wins) and Arizona Rattlers (five wins) had won 30 consecutive games in the building before tonight, with the last loss coming when the San Antonio Stars defeated the Mercury on May 23.

Broadcaster Sean McDonough sat with his brother, Suns GM Ryan McDonough. He’s in town to call the Arizona State-Notre Dame football game on Saturday. Jerry Colangelo was also in attendance.

UP NEXT

The five-game homestand continues with a visit by the Sacramento Kings on Friday.

Tip off is scheduled for 7 p.m. with pregame coverage beginning 30 minutes earlier on Arizona Sports 98.7 FM.

The Suns and Kings split last season’s series with each team winning two games; however, the Suns won the final two, including the regular season-finale, 104-99 at Sleep Train Arena. Archie Goodwin scored a career-high 29 points on 11-of-13 shooting in 31 minutes off the bench.

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