It was the performance that the coaching staff has been looking for all pre-season after preaching they need to fix their deficiencies on the glass as the Phoenix Suns took it to the Sacramento Kings at home. The start was brutal to watch as the team fumbled away eight turnovers in the first quarter leading to a 14-2 deficit.
That hole was tough to climb out of, but a 48-30 closure of the half did the trick as the Suns (3-2) defeated the Kings (4-2) 103-88 surrounded by a complete team performance across the board.
Overall it was the play on the glass that gave the home team the needed edge to knock off the team that gave them their first loss of the pre-season only a few weeks ago. As a collective unit the Suns out-rebounded the Kings (56-44) despite giving up 18 ( four to Thomas Robinson) offensive rebounds. Those offensive rebounds nearly helped bring the Kings back, but the Suns fought them off in the end.
The frontcourt really stepped up as Marcin Gortat led the way with 12 rebounds with Markieff Morris tallying 10, the sage veterans Luis Scola and Jermaine O'Neal collected 9 each, and Michael Beasley added 6 more to the total.
Rebounding has been the issue this pre-season as the team has been out-rebounded in three out of four games and a collective 176-173 -- a story numbers do not fully tell. Offensively balance was key as well with five players in double figures led by Jared Dudley's 25 and Beasley's 15.
Up next for the Suns is a trip to face the Golden State Warriors on a back-to-back at 7:30 p.m. local time getting a preview of the team they open the season with in a weeks time.