Wizards, Suns meet with new-look benches (Mar 07, 2017)
Two teams that have reconfigured their benches in dramatically different manners hook up Tuesday night when the Washington Wizards visit the Phoenix Suns.
Neither team's reserve crew was much of a factor when the Wizards beat the Suns 106-101 at home in November.
The Wizards got just 22 points from five bench players in the win, nine of which came from a guy (Marcus Thornton) they no longer have.
The Suns were even less potent off the bench, getting 20 points from five guys.
Washington, one of the top teams in the East, still gets a vast majority of its scoring from its starters. All five of its starters average in double figures, led by two of the top 25 scorers in the league, guards Bradley Beal (22.9) and John Wall (22.6).
But in an effort to increase their firepower off the bench, the Wizards swung a deal at the deadline for Brooklyn's Bojan Bogdanovic, the leading scorer at the Rio Olympics. It cost the Wizards two players and a 2017 first-round pick.
The 27-year-old had just two points in his Washington debut on Feb. 24, but he has been a one-man wrecking crew off the bench ever since, averaging 18.2 points in his last five games.
Bogdanovic's greatest impact came in Sunday's 115-114 home win over Orlando. He bombed in a career-best eight 3-pointers, scoring 24 of his 27 points on threes.
He saved 15 of his 27 points for a fourth-quarter rally that sent the Wizards off on a five-game trip with a narrow victory.
"I felt today that I cannot miss," Bogdanovic told reporters after the game. "I hope that every game I will have that feeling."
Another player who had a similar feeling Sunday was Suns rookie Tyler Ulis, whose final three of a season-best 20 points came at the buzzer to beat the Boston Celtics 109-106 for Phoenix's third straight home win.
"I figured it would come down to me having to take a late shot," Ulis said afterward of his heroics. "I just shot it with confidence."
For the third consecutive game, a new-look reserve crew anchored by three youngsters outscored their counterparts and helped produce the Phoenix win.
Led by Ulis, Alan Williams and Derrick Jones Jr., the Suns have outscored their opponent 141-72 off the bench during their first three-game winning streak of the season.
Williams tied his career-best with 15 rebounds in the win over the Celtics. He has averaged 14.1 points off the bench in his last six games.
Jones, who finished second to Glenn Robinson III in the dunk competition at the All-Star Game, seems to have gained momentum from that performance. He has made 16 of his 19 shots off the bench in his last seven games.
Tuesday's game begins a brutal stretch for the Wizards, who have two five-game trips remaining. They also play five sets of back-to-backs in March, the first of which concludes Wednesday night at Denver.
The Suns, meanwhile, have already beaten two Eastern clubs -- Charlotte and Boston -- on their homestand to improve their season record to 13-9 against the other conference.
