PHOENIX -- In a continuing struggle to acquaint themselves with consistency, the Suns on Saturday sort of attempted to follow Thursday's stirring, overtime conquest of the Oklahoma City Thunder with a victory over the San Antonio Spurs.
And it certainly seemed as if they had the weapons to make this happen.
Having combined for 57 points -- and many other heavy statistics -- against the Thunder, Eric Bledsoe and Markieff Morris were registered as presumed catalysts for any notions of a sustained uprising. To more than tease the standards of stardom, however, Bledsoe and Morris will be required to post those eye-popping numbers much more often.
Well, the Suns' two best players produced all but three of their Phoenix's points in each of the first two quarters Saturday. Unfortunately, it was in the process of mustering a franchise record for offensive futility in a half.
"The bright side," Suns coach Jeff Hornacek said after the eventual 101-74 loss, "was that they all played bad the same night. Everyone got their bad game out the same night."
By the way, that 24-minute, 24-point opening half was one less point than the Suns managed against the Sacramento Kings during a half of alleged basketball back in 2001.
Marcus Morris erupted for 15 points in a 31-point fourth quarter -- to kept the Suns from establishing another franchise worst -- and finished with a team-high 19.
"We came out real flat," Marcus Morris said. "It ain't nothing more, nothing less. ... We came out flat. You can't do that against a team like that. We were flat, the fans were flat ... a bad recipe."
Twin brother Markieff, who put up 29 points and 11 rebounds on Oklahoma City, managed 10 and two in 17:56 against the Spurs. Bledsoe finished with a dozen points, six rebounds and no assists. But he and Markieff were a lot more dialed in than the rest of the roster.
Brandon Knight managed one point in 16:42 in the first half but left for the evening after falling on an already-sore hip.
"They said I should be fine," Knight said. "So, just take it day by day, get treatment and hopefully get better."
His absence didn't really matter. In terms of energy and passion, the Suns' collective went from off the charts to rock bottom in a bit less than 48 hours.
"I don't know if it was a sense of that," Hornacek said, "just when we brought it in to go out onto the court, it wasn't as enthusiastic as it was before the Oklahoma City game. You never know how to take that, sometimes that's meaningless.
"After the fact, you can look back and say, oh, maybe that was a clue. I just don't think we were mentally sharp. They (Spurs) got after it. They got after it right from the beginning and made things tough, then all of a sudden we weren't even getting in plays."
Based on these disparate levels of motivation, the Suns were in a 51-24 canyon at intermission, with Bledsoe and Markieff (nine points each) joining only three of their teammates in the scoring column. Four of the 12 Phoenix players who participated (those two, Marcus Morris and T.J. Warren) managed a field goal in the opening half. The other eight Suns were 0 for 24 from the field.
Perhaps the most impressive achievement by the Spurs was their refusal to quit defending in the third period. Working for the second night in a row (and this was the final game of their nine-game, Rodeo Road Trip), they remained salty enough to limit the Suns to 17 points in the third quarter.
In addition to Marcus Morris providing enough offensive gusto to shoot Phoenix past the franchise's all-time low for points in a game (68 in 1981), some of the young Suns were able to see the floor.
The rookie Warren scored nine points, while Archie Goodwin and Reggie Bullock received double-digit minutes.
"You don't want to see them in there when you're getting blown out," Hornacek said of the kids, "but any time we can see them get some action, it's good."
Instead of scratching to within a half game of the eighth-seeded Thunder, the Suns (31-29) are 1-1/2 back heading into a four-game road trip that opens Monday in Miami against Goran Dragic and the Heat.
"Just flush it down the toilet," Hornacek said of Saturday's event, "and move on to the next one."
