Suns vs. Jazz: Turnovers, other mistakes doom Phoenix effort

The Phoenix Suns had the chance to put together back-to-back wins on Friday night, but they came up short against the struggling Utah Jazz. A season-high 21 turnovers left the Jazz in the driver's seat, but the mistakes didn't end there.

SB Nation's Phoenix Suns blog Bright Side of the Sun has a detailed run-down of the game, and one of the things they point to are choices by head coach Alvin Gentry. After the starting five shot 78 percent in the first quarter, changes in the second robbed the team of any momentum:

In the second quarter, Gentry put in the not-smartest basketball players and they did not do well as a unit. The second unit scored only five points on two field goals in more than seven minutes of play. Gentry even called timeouts but nothing helped. Even returning the starters only got them 4 more points the rest of the way.

Utah went on to outscore Phoenix 45-40 in the second half. The Suns have really struggled in the paint, and Utah took full advantage:

Oh yeah, and all the while the Jazz just pounded the ball inside to the tune of 31 attempts in the paint for 32 of their 42 first half points.

The game ended with Utah outscoring Phoenix in the paint, 60-28, and picking up only 18 non-free-throw points from outside the key.

The full post contains much more about the game, so check it out and join the conversation.