Suns edged by Bulls despite Knight’s strong debut: By the Numbers
Feb 22, 2015, 1:29 AM | Updated: 5:53 pm
The temperature was reported in the mid-20s in Chicago Saturday night, and Brandon Knight was just as cool-headed in his debut with the Phoenix Suns in a 112-107 road loss to the Chicago Bulls.
Eric Bledsoe, the lone guard who survived “the great Suns roster overhaul of 2015,” committed five of Phoenix’s first seven turnovers to open the game and was pulled.
Enter Knight.
His first made shot as a Suns player was a pull-up jumper. Then came two quick assists on fast breaks to Archie Goodwin in front of a near-20,000-strong crowd of Bulls fans to prove just how collected he could be.
Led by P.J. Tucker’s team-high 20 points and Alex Len’s 11 boards, the Suns held the edge over the Bulls through much of the game. Phoenix had a 56-52 halftime lead after shooting 58 percent from the field.
Yet an 18-4 Chicago run midway through the second half helped the Bulls re-take the lead in the fourth quarter.
Pao Gasol’s game-high 22 points and 14 rebounds, his sixteenth double-double in seventeen games, held a Suns rally at bay.
Knight, 13 points five assists deep, was pulled for Bledsoe in the final minutes. The latter’s 3-point attempt rimmed out with the Suns down just four points and only seconds to play. Gasol pulled down the rebound, killing hopes of a second chance from Phoenix.
Chicago’s Jimmy Butler then made two free throws to seal the Suns’ fourth consecutive loss.
What did the game look like, by the numbers?
0
Knight hasn’t had a single practice with the Suns yet. He played 25 minutes in his debut and shot 50 percent from the field.
Marcus Thornton, another Suns acquisition, saw zero minutes against Chicago.
47-36
Led by Gasol, the Bulls won the boards battle against Phoenix 47-36.
53
The Suns fell despite shooting a whopping 53 percent from the field.
The Bulls shot 48 percent, yet were clutch from behind the arc and made 12-of-24 attempts, while Phoenix was 10-of-25 from three.
20
Tucker’s 20 points are a season high.. He has now scored in double figures for the third consecutive game and fourth time in five games.
2
Len has now grabbed double-digit rebounds in two consecutive games after missing the three prior due to injury.
Len contributed 8 points alongside his 11 boards.
22
The Suns gave up 22 points off 13 turnovers. They managed to score just 11 points off 17 Bulls turnovers.
23
Phoenix showed off some of its flash with 23 fast-break points — four of which were flushes from Knight to Goodwin.
7
The Suns’ seventh loss in eight games has all but snuffed out their small chance of making the playoffs, and puts them at 29-27 on the season.
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