Phoenix Suns: Top 10 moments of the 2018-19 NBA season

3. Opening night

Opening night seems like a lifetime ago, and it’s kind of sad that the oldest game of the season was one of its best moments. It sounds silly to say now, but there was legitimate hope that Igor Kokoskov and this new-look Suns team might be reasonably competitive in 2018-19 after their dominant home opener against the Dallas Mavericks.

The offense was humming with secondary ball-handlers in Kokoskov’s sets, as the Suns knocked down 19 of their 34 triples — the fourth-most 3-pointers made in a game in franchise history. Trevor Ariza looked like a wonderful offseason addition, finishing his debut with 21 points, eight rebounds and seven assists.

Deandre Ayton was an absolute monster from the start, racking up 18 points, 10 rebounds and six assists on 8-of-11 shooting against a well-established center in DeAndre Jordan in his first ever NBA game.

And best of all, Devin Booker simply wouldn’t allow his team to lose despite seeing his first bit of NBA action in 217 days.

He finished with 35 points and seven assists, shooting 12-for-19 from the floor and 6-for-10 from downtown. When the Mavs got within striking distance in the fourth quarter, Book scored 14 straight points to keep them at bay, finishing as a +22 in 33 minutes.

Josh Jackson and T.J. Warren combined for 35 points off the bench, the Suns notched 35 assists to just 11 turnovers, and after losing their last three season openers by a combined 83 points, they won this one by 21.

This wasn’t Phoenix’s best win of the season, but it may have been their finest and most thorough victory. Just because it was ultimately proven to be fool’s gold doesn’t take away from the legitimate hope it inspired at the time, the promising glimpse of what this team looks like when operating at maximum capacity, or the undeniable fact that this was one of the highest peaks of the season.