Phoenix Suns: 3 takeaways from 2017-18 season opener

2. Suns need to balance starting five and bench unit

Though he wouldn’t reveal his starting lineup of Eric Bledsoe, Devin Booker, T.J. Warren, Josh Jackson and Tyson Chandler beforehand, Watson said the goal was to put a five-man group on the court that would help the Suns get off to a fast start — a major problem for the team last year.

"“We want to make sure we have good starts,” he said before the game. “We want to make sure that the guys who start aren’t just scorers and aren’t just a part of a future vision. Guys who start have to be accountable for starting.”"

To be fair, that strategy worked, albeit briefly. The Suns were up 9-2 within the first few minutes, and the score was tied 17-17 with three minutes left in the opening period. Unfortunately, with neither Jackson nor Warren coming off the bench, Phoenix’s second unit had no offense to speak of.

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The Blazers closed the first quarter on a 12-4 run, most of which came against the reserves, and then used that momentum to blitzkrieg the Suns in the second quarter by a 31-14 margin.

Marquese Chriss finished the game with two points, two turnovers and five fouls in just 12 minutes off the bench, going 1-for-5 from the field. Watson kept him on an incredibly short leash, limiting him to just three minutes in the first half.

Dragan Bender put together quite a few stretches of impressive defense, leading the team in rebounding with seven and recording one monster block on Shabazz Napier. Unfortunately, he finished with two points and two turnovers on 0-of-5 shooting.

At the half, the Suns had been outscored 24-0 in bench points. Their second unit was outscored 61-26 for the game overall, and Pat Connaughton (24 points, 9-of-14 shooting) nearly outscored Phoenix’s reserves by himself.

The point is, an inexperienced bench rotation of Tyler Ulis, Troy Daniels, Dragan Bender and Marquese Chriss simply won’t cut it. Ulis was a complete non-factor, Bender couldn’t get anything to fall when he actually did shoot and Chriss looked lost on both ends of the floor again.

"“We’re not gonna alternate starting lineups,” Watson said before the game when asked if his rotation would change based on the matchup. “I think guys can become a starter by earning their minutes.”"

Here’s hoping a 48-point butt-whipping changes that line of thinking, because everything spiraled out of control when the inexperienced bench came in.

With Jackson looking like the real deal and Warren being an established scorer/vetern, Watson needs to seriously (and immediately) consider tweaking his starting lineup to bring Tony Buckets off the bench and reinsert Chriss (or even Bender) into the starting rotation — especially without Jared Dudley‘s poise out there to anchor such a young group of reserves.

The Suns’ starting lineup got off to a decent start Wednesday night, but the second unit was untenable. Watson has to bring one of his two small forwards off the bench and consider giving rotation minutes to Mike James if Ulis continues to struggle.