PHOENIX — The Phoenix Suns are officially 0-1 after their blowout loss to the Portland Trail Blazers last night.
And naturally, there's a lot of discussion around the Suns and what can be improved after a disappointing effort to begin the regular season.
It's the first game of the season — let's overreact some:
Devin Booker Needs to Be Better
That sounds a bit odd as Booker finished with 23 points on 7-13 shooting to pair with four rebounds and two assists, though those who watched the game know there's a bigger picture issue.
For long, Suns fans have wanted Booker to return to the aggressive, pedal to the metal approach that made him one of the best shooting guards in the game.
If you watched last night, you wouldn't have been able to tell it was Booker's team.
Granted, things got out of hand early, but it was still unfortunate to see Phoenix's best player look like the rest of the squad rather than standing out.
Lack of Three-Point Shooting Could Be Massive
Luke Kennard, one of the league's best three-point shooters, was out last night. That being said, the Suns' inability to hit shots from deep was eye-opening to say the least.
Phoenix connected on just 6-32 from deep last night, good enough for a lowly 19% from downtown.
Yes, the Suns had hoped to rework their attack to include more paint presence, though last night's shooting in Portland was alarming.
Phoenix can't possibly replicate that performance and expect to win as many games as they'd like. There were already questions on how they'd maintain their three-point presence without Grayson Allen and Royce O'Neale, and last night did the Suns absolutely no favors in that aspect.
Suns Were Punked By Their Own Game
Losing is tough. Not having shots fall is one thing, but to be completely outworked on the boards and overall effort-wise by the Trail Blazers should be a big wake-up call for the Suns early in the regular season.
To come out flat like the Suns did, with little energy and willingness to do the dirty work, was perhaps the most disappointing facet of last night. Phoenix allowed 20 rebounds to Portland in the first quarter alone and were down by as much as 52 on the night.
That's unacceptable, regardless of who is and isn't available. And for the Suns to pride themselves so much on a culture of grit and toughness, that was nowhere on display in their season opener.
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