The Phoenix Suns lost to a very good Memphis Grizzlies team at home, following a hard fought win the night before against the Los Angeles Lakers on the road.
Coming into this game, most predicted that the Suns would lose to the Grizzlies who happen to feature one of the best front courts in the league...the tandem of Zach Randolph and Marc Gasol.
It wasn't so much the fact that the Suns lost that seemed to be weighing heavy on everyone's mind, it was more about how they did it.
The Suns were up for most of the first half, and took a fairly large lead in the second quarter, running the Grizzlies off the court to stretch their highest lead to 11 points.
But the Suns started the third quarter sloppily, turning the ball over multiple times and missing shots that the Grizzlies were able to capitalize on by scoring on the other end, to quickly erase the Phoenix lead heading into the second half, and grow one of their own.
Suns coach Jeff Hornacek was asked about what went wrong after the game, to which he replied. "Games aren't always won and lost at the end of the game." He continued, "I felt this one was lost in the third quarter."
"We got careless with the ball and had a lot of turnovers, and they started the third quarter with a bunch of lay-ups." Hornacek continued, "We didn't even make them earn it. Their confidence was sky high from that point on, and they don't need the extra confidence, they're a great team."
The bottom line is that the Suns lost a game against a tough Western Conference opponent that they could have won, and that's a tough pill to swallow for all parties involved.
Here are the rest of the videos showing what the players had to say after the loss:
P.J. Tucker mentioned that the Suns loss could be blamed on the Suns not playing their game in the second half, which was certainly a big part of it. The Suns dictated the pace in the first half, but allowed Memphis to control the tempo in the second half.
Isaiah Thomas had already moved on to talking about the next game by the time I caught up with him. He mentioned wanting to beat his old team, the Sacramento Kings on Friday, but that winning against every team is what's most important to him.
Alex Len talked about the physicality of the Grizzlies, and needing to do a better job defensively, and offensively as well.
Goran Dragic probably gave the greatest insight into his struggles thus far, speaking to the adjustments he's having to make playing with less space on the floor, and without the ball in his hands. Some pretty open and honest responses from Goran after a disappointing loss.