(SportsNetwork.com) – The Phoenix Suns will try to remain unbeaten in this
early season when they visit the Utah Jazz Saturday night at EnergySolutions
Arena.
The Suns toppled the still-winless Los Angeles Lakers to start the season,
then picked up an impressive victory Friday night when they stopped the
defending champion San Antonio Spurs.
Phoenix collected a 94-89 home win over the Spurs after it overcame an 11-
point first quarter, which yielded a 13-point disadvantage.
“We kept telling the guys that we can win this game,” head coach Jeff Hornacek
said. “We’re not even playing that great. Hang in there. All of the sudden we
got going a little bit. That’s the poise and the winning mentality that you
have to have when the games get close, that we’re going to win the game.”
Isaiah Thomas led the way for the Suns with 23 points and became the fourth
Sun, joining Tom Chambers, Tom Gugliotta and A.C. Green, to score at least 23
points in his first two games with the team.
Markieff Morris posted 20 points and 11 rebounds, Eric Bledsoe tallied 12
points and nine boards and Alex Len provided his first career double-double,
10 points and 11 rebounds, off the pine for Phoenix.
Goran Dragic and Gerald Green scored 10 apiece.
The Jazz started the season 0-2 thanks to losses at home to the Houston
Rockets and a road setback to the Dallas Mavericks.
On Thursday, the Jazz fell at American Airlines Center, 120-102.
Derrick Favors went for 17 points and 11 rebounds for Utah, while both Gordon
Hayward and Trey Burke scored 16 points in defeat. Alec Burks, who signed a
four-year contract extension this week, had 15 and Enes Kanter was the fifth
starter in double figures with 11.
The Jazz were done in by Dallas’ fantastic shooting performance on Thursday
night. The Mavericks went 47-for-85 from the field for a tidy 55.3 percent
outing.
“We have to focus on the defensive end,” said Favors. “We did a good job with
it in the preseason, and I think that got to our heads a little bit. We
thought we were a good defensive team, and now reality set in.”
These two sides split four matchups last season as Phoenix won in Salt Lake
City on Nov. 29. That was the Suns’ only win as the visitor in this series in
their last five tries.
