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It Was Over When: J.J. Redick pulled up for a wide open, uncontested three on the opening possession of the game. By the first TV timeout, the Suns were down 9. By the second, 14. By the end of the quarter, 19.
A for Effort: Ronnie Price. On a night when most of the team very seriously didn't look like they wanted to be there, Price was enthusiastic and seemed to remember he was playing a game.
There was a single ray of hope when: The Suns came gunning out of the gates to start the 2nd quarter, going on an 11-0 run. Led by Phil Pressey (of recent 10 day contract fame), the Suns would bring the score to within 7 at one point. It was at about this time that the Clippers, clearly flabbergasted that they would actually have to play basketball re-opened a double-digit lead.
One Stat Tells the Story: -12, the Suns' rebounding differential. Rebounding is one of those unique stats that reflects both effort and skill. The Suns, flatly, haven't been a good rebounding team in many moons. However, they got straight beat up on the boards tonight, reflecting the lackadaisical effort of the team. Even Alex Len, who played big minutes, only managed to pull in 8 boards. It was a putrid outing across the board.
On the Bright Side...: Pressey looks like he might be a keeper. Pressey showed some passing skills that he just didn't seem to possess in his earlier stop in Boston, and if tonight is a good representation there is no reason to believe he can't stick around at the very least for another 10-day. He even managed to impress our very own Scott Howard!
Phil Pressey has cleared the Bryce Cotton, Seth Curry, AJ Price, Jerel McNeal, Lorenzo Brown bar
— Scott Howard (@ScottHoward42) February 23, 2016
Such enthusiastic praise.
Alex Len also continued his steady play. Len didn't look fabulous (on his opening offensive possession he was blocked in a one-on-one by DeAndre Jordan), but he did put in a solid, workman-like effort, and at this point I'm looking for consistency from him rather than star potential.
Finally, even though it wasn't pretty at times, Devin Booker continued to show signs of improvement on the defensive end, even if it was a pretty bad offensive night. Booker looked good at times defending Paul Pierce and J.J. Redick, though he made his fair share of rookie mistakes.
Next Scheduled Day of Reckoning: Thursday, 7 pm AZT against Brooklyn