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#SunsVsJazz: Immediate Urgency, Growing Chemistry

The Suns' emphasis in informal workouts and training camp centered on the defensive end. They still want to run, but they want to do so after getting stops, not giving up made baskets.

There was more of the latter than the former in Wednesday's preseason opener against the Kings, which began with Sacramento scoring 16 points in the first four minutes. The reserves, led by Jon Leuer and T.J. Warren, stopped the bleeding and inflicted some damage of their own before the starters played better after halftime.

Early preseason games aren't indicative of regular season patterns. Lineups, rotations and playing time are more experimental than anything else. Suns Head Coach Jeff Hornacek wants to be sure Wednesday's slow start is also an aberration.

"I think they came in a little too cool," Hornacek said of the starters. "The first game, they just want to get their feet wet and just play. We've got to get into that determined mentality. It doesn't matter who you're playing, what night it is, you're tired or not. You come out right from the start and you're aggressive, get after it and not, 'I'm just going to work into it.'"

“We have no leeway to work into things. We've got to go right off the start. Every guy that comes in off the bench, they don't have time for it, either. They've got to come out there and perform.”

— Jeff Hornacek

The silver lining was that Phoenix did eventually work into it, ultimately forcing 21 turnovers and coming up with 14 steals.

The Suns would like to use their speed to better cash in on those opportunities after those 21 Sacramento turnovers led to just 14 fast break points.

"There are guys here with athleticism and quickness that I haven’t been around in a long time," said center Tyson Chandler. "I’ve been around it at different positions, but it’s all over the board."

It's a positive learning curve, but a curve just the same. Chandler joins three starters that spent the majority of last season becoming accustomed to Alex Len in the middle. Len is now the backup center, joining a fully reconstructed bench unit. Brandon Knight is essentially a newcomer in terms of on-court chemistry after an ankle injury limited him to 11 games with his Phoenix teammates last season.

Preseason workouts gave the team a jump start on the get-to-know your process, but now they must see it through against actual opponents instead of each other on the practice court.

"For us, it's just technically knowing how we're going to play," said forward P.J. Tucker. "It's different when we're playing each other [as opposed to] when you get a different opponent. It's just being on the same page. That's what preseason's for, is to get all the kinks out."

Hornacek hopes those kinks will be tackled right when the ball goes up at center court.

"We have no leeway to work into things," he said. "We've got to go right off the start. Every guy that comes in off the bench, they don't have time for it, either. They've got to come out there and perform."