The Pacers jumped the Suns early, going up 11 in the first quarter, 38-27.  They were shooting 8-11 from 3, leading some of us to snicker about [1] Suns new defense and [2] being victims of a long-range attack once made famous by the Suns. 

I was thinking about the Hornets and how we were killed from downtown, from the French Quarter, from across the bay.  Why were we giving Troy Murphy so much respect at the top of the key?  Are we scared of his handle more than his range? Really?

Even at the half, the Suns had closed the lead to 59-62 only to let a few bad plays and Pacers' will to open it back up to 7 in the final 45 seconds.

Despite the score, I saw some good things....

...Particularly Pony Boy who I'm now going to give a less derogatory name.  AdmundSun is not just a fan favorite, he can make good things happen on the court.  I saw him get a lot of tips in our favor.  I saw him miss a shot at the rim moving away from the court, but get back in time to get the rebound at the other end.  10 minutes, 6 points, 5 rebounds a steal and a PF.  Thank you, AdmundSun. That's what I like to see.

Another Bright Spot, was Boris' play.  The book on Boris is that he can't play with Amare and that he can't motivate himself off the bench.  Well, he torched the book for one night, mixing well with Amare and playing well in his role off the bench.  As JSun notes, we got the Full French tonight, 14 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists.  Off the bench.  Alonside Amare.  Lucky night?  Great coaching?  Boris rebooted his perspective?  Time will tell, but this is a very very promising development.  Earlier in the game I had been thinking, "Hmmm... rotate in AdmundSun before Boris?"  A performance like this sets those thoughts aside for now.

As for the player of the game, I leave it to Phoenix Stan to tell about the man with the magic goggles.  He has been freed up to strike fear into the hearts and minds of opposing coaches everywhere.  He is hungry for buckets, blocks, balls, and everything he can get his hands on.  What a performance tonight!

Overall, good play by the team to come back.  TOs weren't outrageous at 16 and shooting was ridiculous again at 55%.  I expect the shooting to fall as teams tighten up their defenses throughout the year and get more physical, but it's nice to see the offense is as good as the past and possibly better given the foundation from D'Antoni, the players focus and abilities and the tweaking and discipline by Porter. 

Hey, 4-1 is a crazy great start for this Suns team.  There's great players fighting for minutes all up and down the roster.  It's really great to be re-excited about the team!

You can catch the wrapups here: ESPN Recap      Box Score      Indiana Cornrows