It was opening night in the brand-new Los Angeles Clippers Intuit Dome.
The Phoenix Suns were the first opponent to face the Clippers and their raucous crowd.
The Suns will be under the microscope all season, partly because their governor, Matt Ishbia, isn’t scared off by the second apron. Phoenix is one of four teams projected to be over the second apron. Milwaukee, Boston, and Minnesota are the other three.
The second apron puts more pressure on teams to find creative ways to maintain and improve their roster.
For Phoenix, that means hitting on the threesome of Kevin Durant, Devin Booker, and Bradley Beal. When the Suns struggled last season, fans and media targeted Beal. Beal is perceived to have a bad contract given to him by a bad organization that Phoenix was way too willing to take.
Last season, it was hard to get the three on the floor because of injuries and roles. Booker played stretches as the primary ballhandler, and Beal was asked to play significant time off the ball after Washington had put the ball in his hands quite a bit.
This season, Phoenix made some subtle but essential moves. The first was bringing Tyus Jones in as the lead guard, taking that responsibility off Booker. Jones is on a one-year contract for slightly over $3M.
Phoenix was smart enough to grab another lead guard, Monte Morris to scoop up bench minutes.
In last night’s 116-133 Suns win over the Clippers, Beal had nine points in the third quarter, with seven of the points coming with Booker and Durant on the bench.
