:format(webp)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/44408470/usa-today-8292545.0.jpg)
The Phoenix Suns beat a Sacramento Kings team without DeMarcus Cousins by the score of 115-106. The story for three quarters was the Suns hot shooting from beyond the arc that was being neutralized by the Kings play in smaller areas of the floor. The Kings had 24 points off of turnovers, beat the Suns 54-46 at points in the paint despite not playing a center, and had 17 offensive rebounds despite not playing a center.
Still, the Suns centers got their worth. Alex Len and Miles Plumlee went to town on the Kings without DeMarcus Cousins or Ryan Hollins out there. Len had 10 points, 11 rebounds, and 5 blocks while Plumlee added 4 points, 6 rebounds, and 5 blocks. The twins had an absolute field day in this one, shooting 14-23 combined including Marcus' 6-7 effort from three. Here's your recap by halves.
First Half
The story of the first half was the ball movement for the Suns. While the score may not have reflected it, it felt like the Suns were the much better team and should have been up by more. The Suns had 17 assists, 10 of which came from Goran Dragic and Eric Bledsoe. They only had five turnovers and were generally getting it done offensively.
The Kings kept making mini-runs to keep themselves in the game, essentially playing in spurts. The Suns have really had trouble staying focused for a full 48 minutes at times and this was what was keeping the Kings in the game.
Second Half
It seemed like to me at least that the Suns came out with some newfound energy and decided that they were over the Kings being in this game. A 7-0 run to start off of the third quarter made it seem that the Suns were about blow the doors off in the game. That would not happen, as the Suns would let up yet again and allow Sacramento back into the game. They would commit seven turnovers in the quarter, most of which resulted with points on the other end. Still, the Suns went 5-6 from three and despite not completely buzzing out there they were still up 4 going into the fourth quarter.
In the fourth quarter after another Marcus Morris technical and some Isaiah Thomas glaring at the Kings bench the Suns started to pull away. Len was getting more and more space around the basket and the Kings started to not get points in other areas of the court. Zoran Dragic made an appearance with a minute left.