Suns blow past Spurs as rotation comes together in Texas
Oct 20, 2015, 9:06 PM | Updated: Oct 21, 2015, 9:49 am
San Antonio Spurs forward Kawhi Leonard (2) drives against Phoenix Suns guard Sonny Weems during the first half of a preseason NBA basketball game, Tuesday, Oct. 20, 2015, in San Antonio. (AP Photo/Darren Abate)
(AP Photo/Darren Abate)
A penultimate game of the 2015 preseason ended with the Phoenix Suns coming out victorious by 20-points against the San Antonio Spurs. Take that result for whatever it’s worth.
What might it be worth? Determining the Suns’ regular season rotation.
The second night of a back-to-back ends Phoenix’s preseason in Dallas on Wednesday, and while Suns coach Jeff Hornacek said this brief Texas trip will help the team develop its rotation, the 104-84 win Tuesday night in San Antonio might be the best guess to what that could look like.
Hornacek said Monday that the Dallas matchup may not be as representative as the game Tuesday because the Suns could hold some players out on the second game in as many days.
“We want to build kind of our normal rotation. Obviously, we got to get into some sort of rhythm. We’re gearing up,” Hornacek said before the team departed.
Here’s what we gleaned from the win against the Spurs in regards to the rotation.
Shooting guard: This might have been the most telling takeaway of this game. Archie Goodwin and Devin Booker didn’t enter until three minutes remained in the Phoenix blowout, while Sonny Weems played 27 minutes, recording 12 points on 5-of-7 shooting, including two threes. This comes after Weems played backup point guard to record eight assists in the Suns’ last outing.
Small forward: T.J. Warren’s 31 minutes made him appear to, unsurprisingly, play an integral role in an eight-man rotation. While P.J. Tucker started at small forward, Warren scored 15 points, grabbed seven rebounds and dished seven assists. He also had three steals.
Power forward: Markieff Morris scored 17 points (3-of-3 from three-point range), outplaying this summer’s free agent target for the Suns, LaMarcus Aldridge. Behind him, Jon Leuer and Mirza Teletovic played 16 and 15 minutes, respectively. Each scored nine. Teletovic went 3-of-6 from three, but Leuer added eight rebounds and two assists.
Point guard: With Ronnie Price in Phoenix due to an illness, the Suns were only forced to play point guards Eric Bledsoe and Brandon Knight together and often — not a bad thing since Bledsoe had missed bonding time with his backcourt mate with his own sickness over the past week. Both starters eclipsed the 30-minute mark and combined for 23 points, 10 assists, four steals and 10 rebounds.
Center: Tyson Chandler received the veteran treatment and played 22 minutes, and backup Alex Len struggled with four turnovers and four fouls in 14 minutes. Morris played alongside Teletovic for stretches as an undersized center.
