Exit Goran Dragic and Eric Bledsoe. Enter Isaiah Thomas and Gerald Green.
Good luck opposing benches.
While Wednesday night's preseason opener may have been an imperfect affair, the Suns got a perfectly good teaser of what their highly advertised guard depth can do.
In short: wear the opponents down.
"When the bench comes in, that’s where we think we can really make some headway," Hornacek said. "When it’s that pressure for all 48 minutes, that team’s going to have to deal with it."
When Phoenix's starting unit came out sluggish in the third quarter, Hornacek wasted little time turning to Thomas and Green for a spark.
Jammed By Green
And why shouldn't he? Green was among the most feared streak shooters in the league last season. Meanwhile Thomas joined LeBron James, James Harden, Stephen Curry and Russell Westbrook as the only players to average at least 20 points and six assists per game in 2013-14.
It didn't even matter that both of them had a frosty first half from the field. Green missed three of his first four shots. Thomas clanked his first trio of attempts. To them, if the last shot didn't fall, the odds are greater that the next one will.
"That’s all I needed to see, was one shot go in," Thomas said. "It changed the aspect of the game. Guys just kept telling me to shoot with confidence.
The ice broke with 4:48 left in the third quarter. Thomas hit a jumper. Then three free throws. Now that his shot was back, he broke out some swagger. Thomas lost his defender with a hesitation dribble. He tried to catch up to the Suns guard from behind. Too late. And-one.
In less than four minutes, the Suns' newest point guard scored eight points.
In the break between the third and fourth quarters, Thomas must have passed his hot hand off to Green, who up to that point had just four points.
“Isaiah lit us up in the past and that’s what he came here to do, to give other teams the same problems he gave us. Gerald’s just doing the same thing from where he left off last season.”
— Eric Bledsoe
The 6-8 swingman poked the ball loose and was off the races. Slam dunk. He converted an alley-oop moments later. A pull-up jumper followed.
Thomas took the baton for another round, scoring 10 points over the next 2:22 of game time.
"Isaiah lit us up in the past and that’s what he came here to do, to give other teams the same problems he gave us," Bledsoe said. "Gerald’s just doing the same thing from where he left off last season."
And therein lies the nightly nightmare for the opposition. What will they do when they they need to rest their starting guards -- and find their backups going up against Thomas and/or Green? How do they counter a never-ending wave of starting-quality talent in the backcourt that, because of its depth, will seldom be tired?
It's too early to tell, but it will be fun finding out.