Suns Clobbered by Jazz 103-69

On some nights the Suns challenge teams like the Golden State Warriors and have you believe that with a healthy core next season, they could take a huge step in the right direction.

Then, nights like these make you question just how far away they are from being competitive.

The Suns have some great young players on paper. But tonight, everyone struggled.  Alex Len shot 4-15. Devin Booker shot 3-14. Brandon Knight shot 6-16.

As a team, the Suns shot a putrid 33 percent from the field and turned the ball over 20 times. That type of play is simply unacceptable.

The Jazz weren't spectacular in the first half either, but their offense clicked in the second half en route to a blowout victory at home that keeps them in hot pursuit of the eighth seed in the Western Conference.To make matters worse, Utah annihilated Phoenix without leading scorer Gordon Hayward.

Jon Leuer is arguably the only Sun who showed up to play tonight. The badger shot 6-8 from the field and put up 14 points and eight rebounds in 16 minutes. Meanwhile, every starter for the Suns finished the game at least -20 in the box score.

Give credit to the Jazz defense for their fantastic effort tonight. Even without an especially efficient offense, the Jazz proved that their imposing defense and physicality can keep them competitive. They blocked five shots and logged 14 steals, six of which were from swingman Joe Ingles alone.

If you're a fan of the tank, a loss is a loss. But not like this. Not like this. If your team can't reach 70 points, how do you expect them to make a magical jump in mindset to become competitive again?

On the bright side, Alan Williams finally made his NBA debut in the final minutes! The big man had one point and one steal in two minutes of action.

Forgive me for not wanting to dwell on this loss for too long. These are the games that are most challenging.