Phoenix Suns responds to poor bets with a forceful victory over Hornets

You never know how long a team will stay on a funk. You can make fairly safe bets that a group like the Phoenix Suns will break out of a group sooner rather than later, but it’s never certain.

Arizona Cardinals fans, for example, felt a lot uncomfortable ahead of the Dallas Cowboys win on Sunday. Further east, the Suns also got their mojo back emphatically with a 133-99 win over the Charlotte Hornets.

It was an energy and commitment disparity that resembled the Suns’ feeble loss to the Celtics on Friday, which resulted in three losses in their last four games. Except this time, Phoenix was the attacker.

“Saw a movie at the shootaround this morning and the trainer talked to us about the physicality that we didn’t play with in Boston. And we knew it, ”said point guard Chris Paul.

Charlotte didn’t come out with a lot of momentum, and the suns quickly set the hornets on their back foot before knocking them over completely not too soon afterwards.

Phoenix jumped up to a 14th lead in the first quarter, and while the Hornets responded with a 14-2 run, that was all they had to muster. In the remaining 9:50 of the first half, it was a 35-13 Sun loss to rise to 26th at halftime.

The Suns started the game at an incredible pace. Paul was almost halfway when he got an outlet pass and even after that he immediately kicked the ball to someone else.

“That’s something we talked about clearly,” said acting head coach Kevin Young. “It’s good it happened early.”

Devin Booker used this pace to find a scoring groove early and scored 14 of his 24 points in the first 12 minutes.

Phoenix finished with 36 assists and 17 threesomes, with 10 of those dimes and six of those Trey Balls only coming in the first quarter.

Similar to the defeat on Friday, there is not much to take with you in the individual performances, considering how exhausted Charlotte was. But on this side the game provides a nice opportunity for at least some guys to either find their rhythm or continue it.

The Suns desperately needed this type of game as Monty Williams, Deandre Ayton, Jae Crowder, JaVale McGee and Abdel Nader were absent due to health and safety protocols. Everyone wasn’t afraid to admit how strange the past week had been and the team was upset about it.

Mikal Bridges (15 points), Cam Payne (14) and Landry Shamet (17) stand out as the three players who took advantage on Sunday.

You could also lump Paul’s 16 assists together. He said that after losing on Friday he knew he had to be more aggressive and noted that he can still be like this on Sunday without shooting by putting pressure on the defense.

Meanwhile, sophomore Jalen Smith held the spotlight, and newcomer Bismack Biyombo showed what he can do.

The contrast between Smith and Biyombo is quite fascinating. Smith, the sportier of the two, is a few steps faster. But Biyombo, the 29-year-old with 703 NBA games under his name, is at least a few steps ahead of his goal.

There are more nuances in understanding the spacing and proper positioning of centers than there is in any other position in basketball. This is why you so often hear coaches talk about why they take longer to develop.

Smith is still in the early stages of figuring out basic things like what NBA officials are calling (and not calling) and how to get open with sideline out-of-bounds games.

A fair bit of this can go into spending nearly a year learning a position he had never played, a versatile 4, before going back to what he is best at as a 5 man.

Smith is now just focused on playing hard, staying active around the basket and maintaining his defensive duties. The first two don’t take much more than his skills that picked him in the lottery last year. He looks more comfortable with every game, and environments like Sunday, when the hornets are half asleep, will cause him to eat.

The 21-year-old had a double-double in the first half alone and ended the night with 19 points, 12 rebounds, two blocks and a poster.

STIX FLIES ✈️ #ValleyProud pic.twitter.com/PTr87EyaYa

– Bally Sports Arizona (@BALLYSPORTSAZ) January 3, 2022

Smith had turned down the third year of his rookie deal from the Suns in early November. He could have sulked the remainder of his stay in Phoenix before finding out about things elsewhere, but he stuck to his work diligently and stood ready for any opportunity that presented itself. Smith said he never lost his confidence in the process and it was shown in his great game over the past week.

“That next-man mentality,” said Smith. “I’m trying to take what DA and JaVale did and try to get up on that end.”

As for Biyombo, he told AZCentral’s Duane Rankin that he was unwilling to play basketball after his father’s death in August and “stayed away”. Usually he gets a pre-game text from his father and said it was different not to get one on Sunday.

“It’s almost about finding (and understanding) ways to understand this new way of life,” he said after the victory.

Biyombo waited for the right fit after enough time and here it is with the suns that now look like a seamless addition.

The veteran remained visibly fit and proved his know-how by being in the right place at the right time.

“He’s exactly what we need now,” said Young of Biyombo, whom the Sonnen signed on Saturday. “A great NBA that can do its job at a high level. … It fitted in better than I thought. We just plugged him in (and) he knew exactly what he was doing and he achieved a lot. “

Biyombo has always made up for his shorter physique (6-foot-8) and lack of explosive, fast-twitching movements by how strong and long he is. The guy plays physically and is fearless when it comes to sacrificing his body. He’ll put up hard screens, put corpses on guys around the basket, grab rebounds, and protect the paint.

With a block in the first quarter and a few more solid games, he showed his skills against his former team.

. @ bismackbiyombo is already having an effect. pic.twitter.com/EKNfQHpkwC

– Phoenix Suns (@Suns) January 3, 2022

Biyombo finished with 11 points, six rebounds, an assist, block and steal in 18 minutes.

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