The Suns have had a wild 48 hours, but the team stuck together and battled-out an emotional win over the Sacramento Kings.
Following Earl Watson being relieved of his head coaching duties and Eric Bledsoe being sent home from shootaround, the Suns faced many obstacles entering Monday night’s game.
“The guys still come in with great attitudes,” Josh Jackson said. “We are just trying to stick together and all-day today from shootaround to after the game in the locker room, I felt like we were at every point in the day today just together.”
Interim Head Coach Jay Triano put out a fresh starting lineup that landed Mike James his first career start and the rookie took advantage of the opportunity.
The Suns came out of the gate firing as they opened the game on a 32-10 run. Although the Kings would eventually tie the game in the fourth quarter, James drove for a clutch layup that led to the Suns walking away with a 117-115 victory.
“I think the one thing Mike has is experience playing basketball in crazy environments,” Triano said. “Playing in that Greek league is no joke. Games go down to the wire and they’re throwing stuff at you and there’s smoke bombs going off in the crowd. It’s a passionate place to play and he’s been through this before and it was a pretty cool play.
James (18 points) and Jackson (15 points) tie Alvan Adams for the second-longest streak of games scoring in double figures to start an NBA career in Suns history.
Devin Booker led the team in scoring with 22 points to go along with his five assists and three rebounds.
“Everything that happened in the last 24-hours should have been eye-opening to us and I am proud of the team in how we responded,” Booker said. “We came out and fought.”
The Suns continue to look forward as they gear up to face the Utah Jazz on Wednesday at Talking Stick Resort Arena. The team will be celebrating Dia De Los Muertos at the game and is giving away Margarita Shakers brought to you by Hornitos.