Even though almost nothing was going their way in the first quarter, the Phoenix Suns broke out of an early slump and fought back to defeat the Los Angeles Clippers 125-119 on Thursday night.
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!Phoenix has swept Los Angeles 2-0 at the Intuit Dome this season, the Clippers’ brand-new home arena in which they are still winless.
Here are some initial takeaways from the victory:
-The Suns’ defense and paint presence were nonexistent in the first quarter and the Clippers were red-hot. Los Angeles led 37-20 in the frame, outrebounded the Suns 16-6 and scored 26 of 37 points in the paint.
-Jusuf Nurkić was benched in the second quarter and head coach Mike Budenholzer rotated his three centers. Nurkić and Mason Plumlee played most of the game while rookie Oso Ighodaro got five minutes. Nurkić was utilized more in the fourth quarter as the Suns mounted their comeback and contributed with 11 points.
-Phoenix held James Harden from inflicting even more damage than he started with. After scoring 12 points in the first quarter, the former ASU Sun Devil only was able to add 13 more points and finished with 25.
-Off of a 33-point performance against the Lakers, Devin Booker has continued to impress after a slow start to his standards this year. Scorching with 40 points, he has reached his season-high and nearly achieved a double-double as he had eight assists.
-Even without the injured Kawhi Leonard, the Clippers are not an easy out for the Suns. Phoenix had to come back in the season opener to beat Los Angeles 116-113 in overtime.
-Turning the game around completely, the Suns were a flawless 15-of-15 in the third quarter which resulted in a 33-12 run and Booker had 27 points before the fourth. Phoenix trailed by as much as 21 before going on the blazing stretch.
-In yet another game this season where the Suns were lackadaisical in the first quarter, they buckled up on defense and regained their scoring touch to take the lead. This is the fourth straight game where Phoenix was outplayed to start and the third contest where the team came away victorious.
-Royce O’Neale is making his early case for being a potential Sixth Man of the Year Award winner. The former Jazz forward scored 21 points from 7-of-8 shooting and 5-of-6 from three, six rebounds, one assist, one block and one steal in 28 minutes.
-Ryan Dunn’s impressive start to his NBA career carries on another day as he is getting better and better each and every game. The 21-year-old notched 16 points, four rebounds and a steal, including a couple of game-changing 3-pointers in the second half.
-The Suns lost the past 71 road games down by 20-plus since 2017 and have broken that long, dreaded streak. Phoenix improves to 4-1 on the season.
-Phoenix turned over the ball six times in each half, totaling 12. The Clippers outrebounded the Suns 48-39 and still outscored them 60-48 in the paint.
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Reporter Alec Cipollini covers the Phoenix Mercury, Suns and ASU Athletics for Burn City Sports. You can follow him on his X account, @AlecCipollini
