After winning an impressive game over the Timberwolves at home Sunday, the Suns played the Mavericks on the second night of a back-to-back in Dallas Monday, falling 104-94.
“It was kind of an ugly first half,” Hornacek reflected while on The Doug and Wolf Show on Arizona Sports 98.7 FM. “Sometimes that happens when you have two higher scoring teams; all of a sudden it becomes a low-scoring game. I think everyone was focused on how good the other team is defensively. We were still right in the game. We had 11 turnovers in the first half which hurt us a little bit. The third quarter started off the same as the first half until we took Eric [Bledsoe] out of the game – then they went on a big run.”
Hornacek was pleased with the effort for most part, but did make reference to an unusually-low number of shots the Suns’ offense was able to generate.
“For the most part this year, we’re getting off about 90-95 shots a game,” he said. “We only got off 80 [in Dallas]. We didn’t convert some of our layups. The three-pointers we did okay; we had some good looks that we didn’t make.”
The Suns found themselves down by 23 in the fourth quarter before Hornacek put in a lineup consisting of Eric Bledsoe, Archie Goodwin, Sonny Weems, T.J. Warren and Jon Leuer.
“They had a lot of small guys on the court,” Hornacek said about his successful lineup change. “They were just playing with one big. Once you get going and the group makes that comeback – they were scoring, they were scrapping, they were helping each other out, and they were pushing the ball – you kind of say, ‘Let’s just roll with those guys.’ It was less than two minutes to go when we had that chance to cut it to four. They didn’t quit; they kept battling.
“It was good to see some of those other guys who haven’t played a lot get in there and take advantage of the opportunity.”
Listen to the entire interview below: