|
 Forward Marcus Morris had nine of his 21 points and three of his
five 3-pointers in the first quarter and the Suns three-headed point
guard -- Eric Bledsoe, Goran Dragic and Isaiah Thomas -- combined
for 57 points on 20-of-30 shooting as Phoenix rolled to an easy
119-99 win over the 0-2 Lakers at US Airways Center.
Thomas led the Suns with 23 points and added five more of the Suns'
16 3-pointers in the game. Dragic had 18 points and Bledsoe had 16
before he was ejected in the final minute of the third quarter with
his second technical foul.
"This was definitely the start I had in mind," said Thomas, who
signed as a free agent with Phoenix this summer and made nine of 11
shots and five of seven 3-points in his regular season debut. "When
we're clicking we have a lot of good guards, a lot of good wings and
a lot of weapons. We have a lot of guys who can put the ball in the
basket and it was clicking on all cylinders tonight."
Forward Markieff Morris had 12 points and center Miles Plumlee added
10 for the Suns, who beat the Lakers in a season opener for the
first time in four tries.
Bryant led all scorers with 31 points in 28 minutes, but he needed
25 shots to get them. He watched the fourth quarter from the bench
after the Suns opened a 29-point lead late in the third and the
Lakers were routed for the second time in as many nights by a
Western Conference foe.
"I told you guys from the beginning I'm back to myself. I feel
completely fine," he said. "(We need to) guard the 3-point shot or
shoot and make more ourselves. That's tough math to overcome when
they knock down 16 threes to our four. That's tough to overcome."
Marcus Morris started in place of the suspended P.J. Tucker at
forward and also drew the tough defensive assignment early on
Bryant. Bryant got his points but Morris made eight of 14 shots
himself, usually with a lot of room to operate.
"Our guards did a great job of penetrating and sucking the defense
in to leave me open," Morris said. "Once our guards get into the
lane, I'm just sliding to the open spots so they can see me. I hope
every team leaves me open like that."
Guarding Bryant was a little tougher for Morris.
"I'm not happy because he had 30 in three quarters, but I'm happy
that we won. He's one of the best players in the league ... he's
always going to be top five, top 10. I'm just trying to see where
I'm at and challenge myself."
Bledsoe was greeted warmly by the fans after a protracted contract
negotiation over the summer. He added a game-high nine assists
before he was sent off after kicking the scorer's table in
frustration after feeling he was hit in the face during a jump ball
tie-up with Bryant.
Phoenix coach Jeff Hornacek understood Bledsoe's anger.
[to top of second column]
|
"Eric and Goran, these guys deserve some respect on the calls,"
Hornacek said. "When these guys are getting slapped in the face and
they're not calling it, I don't mind seeing a guy get upset like
that.
"At that point we were up 25 or however many it was. We were OK, but
we'll have to get his attention if the games a little closer."
Los Angeles didn't get a second player into double figures until
guard Wayne Ellington hit a 3-pointer with 6:43 left in the game,
long after the issue was decided. The Lakers lost guard Steve Nash
for the season last week and rookie forward Julius Randle to a
fractured tibia on Tuesday.
Forward Ed Davis finished with 14 points and Ellington had 13 for
the Lakers, who have not led by more than one point in their first
two games.
"I told them we've got to hang in there, we've got to stay
together," Lakers coach Byron Scott said. "It's only two games. I
think guys are a little frustrated, I saw that during the game.
We've got to do a better job guarding threes. That's the thing in
our first two games that has really, really hurt us."
NOTES: With rookie F Julius Randle out indefinitely due to a
fractured right tibia, Lakers coach Byron Scott said F Ed Davis, who
scored 11 points in 21 minutes on Tuesday, would take the bulk of
Randle's minutes. Scott, who held Randle as he sobbed after the
game, said the injury didn't look as bad on replays as it turned out
to be. ... G Wayne Ellington returned to the lineup after missing
the Lakers' 108-90 loss to Houston on Tuesday with a concussion. ...
The Suns began the night 0-3 all-time against the Lakers in season
openers, losing in 2006-07, 1996-97 and 1993-94. ... Suns F Marcus
Morris started in place of P.J. Tucker, who served the first game of
a three-game suspension after pleading guilty to drunk driving in
the offseason. ... Scott and the Suns' Jeff Hornacek had never faced
each other as coaches, but they met 43 times as players in the
regular season (Scott led 24-19) and 14 times in the playoffs
(Hornacek led 9-5).
[© 2014 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.]
Copyright 2014 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
 |
