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Phoenix Suns: 5 Silver Linings In A Lost Season

By Gerald Bourguet

Jan 23, 2016; Phoenix, AZ, USA; Phoenix Suns center Tyson Chandler (4) celebrates after making a basket against the Atlanta Hawks in the second half at Talking Stick Resort Arena. The Suns won 98-95. Mandatory Credit: Jennifer Stewart-USA TODAY Sports
Jan 23, 2016; Phoenix, AZ, USA; Phoenix Suns center Tyson Chandler (4) celebrates after making a basket against the Atlanta Hawks in the second half at Talking Stick Resort Arena. The Suns won 98-95. Mandatory Credit: Jennifer Stewart-USA TODAY Sports /
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Jan 23, 2016; Phoenix, AZ, USA; Phoenix Suns head coach Jeff Hornacek laughs while talking with forward T.J. Warren (12) in the game against the Atlanta Hawks at Talking Stick Resort Arena. The Suns won 98-95. Mandatory Credit: Jennifer Stewart-USA TODAY Sports /

4. Trial By Fire For The Youngsters

Before the Hawks game, head coach Jeff Hornacek‘s response to a question about having patience with the younger players became almost prophetic by the end of the night.

"“With young guys you obviously have to have the patience, but you can also accept the mistakes that they’re gonna make, just because a lot of these guys, they haven’t been through it that much,” he said. “So they’re gonna learn their lessons.”"

And learn them, they did. Archie Goodwin wound up knocking down the game-winner, but as the team’s starting point guard with Bledsoe, Knight and Price all sidelined, he committed four of the team’s 17 turnovers that led to 25 of Atlanta’s 95 points.

Devin Booker knocked down a few big three-pointers en route to his 15 points, but he also committed a costly foul that could’ve given the Hawks the lead had Kent Bazemore made his free throw to complete the three-point play. At times, there was just downright chaos on the court, including a backbreaking play that nearly robbed the Suns of all the momentum they’d sustained through three and a half quarters:

“You could just go, ‘Oh my gosh, here we go again,’ but they didn’t,” Hornacek said of that bizarre sequence. “They came into the timeout and we said, ‘You’re still gonna win the game.’ It was a crazy ending I thought, but a fun ending for them to win that way, especially with Archie making that shot.”

It won’t always be pretty, and even when the more experienced Knight returns, the Suns will still be giving heavy minutes to him (age 23), Booker (20), Goodwin (21), T.J. Warren (22) and Alex Len (22). There aren’t any teams in the NBA winning many games with so many core players that young. But the experience they gain along the way in this trial by fire could be invaluable down the road.

“I think young players in this league, they have to see it in order to believe it,” Chandler added. “You play against a good team like that, they come back and they tie it, and you’re able to still get the win, now those guys have the type of game experience late down the stretch to have confidence the next time they’re in that situation.”

Next: No. 3

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