There’s no way to sugarcoat it; the end result was certainly not what the Suns wanted as they dropped Wednesday’s game at home to the Chicago Bulls, 103-97.
Yet, once again, Eric Bledsoe and Brandon Knight ignited the Suns on both ends of the floor at key times.
Needless to say, this is becoming a trend.
In fact, the backcourt duo of Bledsoe and Knight is making a case for the best starting guard pairing in the NBA.
Bledsoe (21) and Knight (23) combined to score 44 points and dish out 11 assists against the Bulls. Additionally, Bledsoe (23.0 points—10th in NBA, 5.9 assists—t-18th in NBA) and Knight (20.5 points—19th in NBA, 5.0 assists—t-26th in NBA) are two of just 10 players in the league averaging at least 20.0 points and 5.0 assists this season, and the only teammates to each be doing so.
For an entire season, only four times in NBA history have two teammates averaged at least 20.0 points and 5.0 assists: Cleveland’s LeBron James and Kyrie Irving in 2014-15, Miami’s James and Dwyane Wade in 2012-13, Chicago’s Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen in 1991-92, and Boston’s John Havlicek and Jo Jo White in 1971-72 (Basketball-Reference).
Bledsoe’s 21 points against the Bulls extended his career-long streak of scoring 20 points or more to six games. Knight followed up his first career triple-double with 23 points and now has five 20-point games on the season, including three of the last four.
The Suns currently have a Defensive Rating (points allowed per 100 possessions) of 98.6. Interestingly enough, the Suns haven’t posted a Defensive Rating below 100 for a season since 2002-03 (99.4). Certainly, the addition of Tyson Chandler has aided in this effort, but Bledsoe and Knight are widely regarded as one of the top defensive backcourt duos in the NBA today.
It’s important to remember how old (or young) Bledsoe (25) and Knight (23) are; to be clicking on all cylinders at that age is impressive.
Nevertheless, neither guard will be satisfied until the Suns make the Playoffs.