Bright Side of the Suns was lucky enough to have our part-time videographer on hand for the season opener as the Phoenix Suns blew out the Los Angeles Lakers 119-99.
It was Eric Bledsoe's night - he scored 16 points on 7 shots (3 of 4 on threes) with 9 assists and 6 rebounds by the end of the third quarter. Bledsoe was tossed after complaining about Kobe giving him a bloody lip on a clear foul that was not called.
"Yeah," coach Hornacek said after the game about Bledsoe's tech. "But you know Eric (Bledsoe) and Goran (Dragic), these guys deserve some respect from the calls. When these guys are getting slapped in the face and they're not calling it, then I don't mind a guy getting upset like that."
Bledsoe was not available to the media post game, but plenty of other players were. Even Marcus Morris, who reminded the media that he "doesn't do this often" but after scoring 21 points in a starting role the smaller Morris was worth the wait.
Above, you've got the Goran Dragic postgame interview.
Next, we will look at Alex Len, whose contribution was much more impactful than the 3 point, 5 rebound, 1 block stat sheet showed.
Now Isaiah Thomas, who scored 23 points on 11 shots (5 for 7 on threes):
And finally Marcus Morris, who scored 21 points while making 5 of 9 three-pointers:
Other quotes from the coach:
- (on the win) "We'll take it. You know, they're coming off of a back-to-back. It's always tough when we're sitting here waiting for the game and they played last night. Our guys played pretty well. They were ready to go and I thought our first group was fantastic tonight, so with that kind of effort we'll be in good shape."
- (on Morris maybe staying a starter all year) "Well it's always possible. If we go 3-0, why would we change the lineup? Obviously we have two more games to go, but we really like the effort of those guys - that first group tonight. Eric (Bledsoe) and Goran (Dragic) took turns, were kind of dominating the play there. With Markieff (Morris) and Marcus making the jump shots, it's fun to watch. I told the guys in the locker room afterward, when you pass the ball, move it and make those extra passes that gives someone a wide open shot, that's fun for coaches to see them doing that and I thought we got a lot of good shots off tonight."