WHEN: 7 PM MST
WHERE: Phoenix
LISTEN: Sports 620 KTAR
After getting out-hustled and out-played in the first game against a real opponent in over 200 days, the Suns look to bounce back against the Denver Nuggets, this time hosting them at the U.S. Airways Center in Phoenix.
The Suns gave away the first game of the preseason to this team, allowing 127 points on 53% shooting. The Suns also committed 16 turnovers, 12 of which belong to our new backcourt acquisitions Shannon Brown, Ronnie Price, and Sebastian Telfair. We shouldn't take too much information from the preseason games, however. These two games will strictly be a tool for Alvin Gentry and the coaching staff to preview different lineups and combinations of players before the Suns regular season begins in earnest on Monday.
Game Notes
Marcin Gortat will not play tonight due to that broken thumb, though the warrior himself says that he's ready to play through the injury during the regular season.
Grant Hill, feeling good after sitting out Tuesday's game with a sore knee, will start tonight.
What to watch for tonight
Improved control over the game: Gentry needs to know that he can trust somebody other than Steve Nash with the ball. Neither Price nor Telfair showed that they had that capability in the previous game, and Shannon Brown was an out-of-control turnover machine.
Interior defense: Robin Lopez looked re-energized on offense on Tuesday, but his defense was sluggish and weak. As Jim Coughenour would say, our defense allowed "dunks, dunks, and more dunks". Let's see if he gets that defensive fire back in a starting role and proves that he's worthy of a starting position.
Grant freaking Hill: won't it be nice to see him play?
Channing from three: If Channing Frye isn't hitting his shots, how will we be able to space the floor? Some food for thought.
Obviously, they haven't had a lot of time to improve over the last two days, but I'm hoping that first blowout acts as a little bit of a wake-up call. Again, it's the preseason so it doesn't "mean" anything, but in a time of shortened training camps and back-to-back-to-backs, it actually could "mean" quite a bit.