Suns Strokes: Phoenix closes up-and-down homestand with loss to Hornets

PHOENIX — When your goal for the season is to make the playoffs in the Western Conference, five-game homestands like this aren’t going to cut it.

The Phoenix Suns went 2-3 in those five games, concluding with a 103-95 loss to the Charlotte Hornets at US Airways Center Friday night.

“Obviously not great. I don’t know what our record was — 4-3 over seven games,” said head coach Jeff Hornacek on how the team has played at home early in the season. “You’ve got to do better than that, but every night these teams are good. If we don’t come and play well, we’re not going to win a game.”

In almost an identical scenario to last week’s home game when the Suns lost to the Sacramento Kings. Phoenix came out of the gate strong against Charlotte, jumping out to a 28-14 first-quarter lead thanks to hot shooting from forward Markieff Morris.

Morris was a microcosm of the game, scoring 10 points on 4-of-7 shooting in the first quarter, then only two points on 1-of-6 shooting in the final three.

The Suns were also beat up on the boards, allowing 15 offensive rebounds and 25 second-chance points to Charlotte.

“I think it started with the perimeter defense,” said Hornacek in regards to the poor job on the defensive glass. “They were driving around and our bigs were coming up to block some shots, Alex (Len) came over to contest a couple of them and (Bismack) Biyombo did a good job going after the ball.

“Some of them were bad breaks, an air ball … you’ve got a good defensive stop, it hits the rim and you probably don’t get that.”

With what’s becoming a disturbing pattern through nine games, Eric Bledsoe, Goran Dragic and Isaiah Thomas once again didn’t all play well in the same game.

Friday was Bledsoe’s turn for success, as he posted 22 points with 11 rebounds and five assists. Yet Thomas and Dragic combined for 21 points on 8-of-19 shooting with five assists and five turnovers.

“‘Cause it’s only one ball and we’re all point guards,” said Dragic in regards to their struggles. “That’s an easy answer, it’s hard. That’s sacrifice; it’s the way it is. We need to embrace that and try to grow together.”

THE GOOD

On the whole, the Suns’ defense was solid. They held the Hornets to 42.9 percent shooting, and Miles Plumlee did a nice job limiting Al Jefferson to 7-of-16 from the field.

THE BAD

Phoenix shot 8-of-29 from 3-point range. Through nine games, the Suns are shooting 32.9 percent from beyond the arc, with 26 attempts per game. Considering how important the 3-point shot was to their prosperity last season, this is another negative trend for the long-term health of the team.

STAT OF THE GAME

The Suns committed just three more turnovers than the Hornets (11 to 8), but the Hornets scored 18 points off the Suns’ turnovers, while Phoenix scored just six points off the Hornets’ giveaways.

HE SAID IT

“Tonight, I thought our bench got thoroughly beat by these guys. Our bench has been doing a good job for us, but we had a good first quarter — only gave up 14 points — and then they came out to start the second quarter and scored, what, 11 straight? Something like that. When you have a team down … we talk about it, games aren’t won or lost in the first quarter; you’ve got to continue to play. We let them back in and then they got life.”

-Hornacek on why everyone can’t seem to click at the same time

NOTED

This was the Hornets’ first road win of the season.

Phoenix had beaten the Hornets in their five previous matchups.

All five Suns starters scored in double figures for the second time this season.

UP NEXT

The Suns begin a six-game road trip Saturday night against the Los Angeles Clippers at Staples Center. Then, they head East to face the Celtics, Pistons, 76ers, Pacers and Raptors in a span of eight days.

Phoenix will tip off in LA at 8:30 p.m. The pregame show will begin 30 minutes earlier on Arizona Sports 98.7 FM.

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