National Basketball Association

Suns notebook: Thomas fills role, bucket in Phoenix debut

Published Oct. 9, 2014 4:29 p.m. ET

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PHOENIX -- Before reviewing some of the issues from Wednesday's preseason opener that didn't exactly thrill Suns coach Jeff Hornacek, let's look around for some positive signs.

OK, here's one: The second-half performance of free-agent acquisition Isaiah Thomas.

The 5-foot-9 lefty, who arrived from Sacramento as the third noggin in Phoenix's three-headed, point-guard monster, made 5 of 6 shots from the field across the last two quarters of a 100-88 triumph over Flamengo from Brazil.

In his 21 total minutes, Thomas scored 18 points, dropped 5 of 9 field-goal attempts, made 6 of 7 free throws, took four rebounds and handed-out a team-high four assists. He also checked in with a team-high four turnovers.

When his first game in a Suns uniform against another team was over, the 60th pick in the 2011 NBA Draft didn't mince words.

"I love this organization,and I love this team," he said. "Nobody's out for themselves."

And the notion of working in a crowded backcourt suits him just fine.

"Whatever role they want me to do, I'm going to do," Thomas said. "As long as I'm out there playing, I'm going to be out there and try to be as effective as much I possibly can.

"First off, I want to win. I see this organization going in that direction. Second off, this style of play fits perfectly for me whether I start or come off the bench."

In his first game at U.S. Airways Center since that restricted-free-agency event, Eric Bledsoe demonstrated his four-year, $70 million contract may seem like a bargain.

The deal could be considered even more reasonable, based on numbers -- and corresponding salary-cap-level hikes -- reported from the NBA's next national TV deals.

Although he was on the floor with the starters during serious interludes of collective slouching, Bledsoe led a second-quarter rally that pushed Phoenix toward its 11-point halftime lead.

For the night, he scored 15 points, made 7 of 10 shots from the field and collected four rebounds.

"We've been trying to get all the kinks out and it's the first time playing against somebody else, so there's going to be a little bit of rust," he said.

Suns forward P.J. Tucker, the defensive stopper who's being counted on to provide a measure of fire to the team's considerable fuel, likes what he's seeing from this year's squad.

"I like the way we're a unit," Tucker said during an interview conducted before the unit played with less heat than Hornacek expected. "I like how we have so many guys we can sub in and out. We have so many different lineups we can play. I like how young we are . . . energy . . . so I'm excited."

Perhaps some of the sluggish play from the starting unit Wednesday can be attributed to Tucker not being part of it. (Marcus Morris got the start instead.)

But regardless of how the rotations shake out, Tucker has no worries about how the battle for minutes will impact chemistry.

"So many guys on our team are friends off the court," he said. "I think that helps because so many guys hang out together, so the chemistry is easy to come by."

"In the West this year, if you're not bringing it every night, you can forget about the playoffs."

This was the public, post-game message provided by Hornacek, whose reaction to Wednesday's stumbles at the start of each half left little room for ambiguity.

"Every game, it doesn't matter," he said. "You step out on the court, you should think it's a big game. That's probably what drove me nuts. I saw it this morning in shootaround. We just kind of thought they were going to go through the motions. We weren't ready to go. It showed at the beginning of the game, luckily we got a deep team."

Wednesday's depth did not include free-agent four man Anthony Tolliver and second-year center Alex Len.

Tolliver sustained a laceration on his hand late in training camp, while Len reinjured his right pinky finger during Monday's practice.

"Anthony says he wants to try to play Friday," Horancek said in reference to a preseason home date with the Denver Nuggets. "It'll be up to the trainers; we want to be careful to make sure that scar doesn't tear open."

Hornacek indicated Len's pinky didn't absorb a level of damage similar to what it sustained in the first game of the Las Vegas summer league.

"It's a bad break for Alex," the coach said. "The trainer said that if he just got karate chopped across the hand, it would have no effect. It just happened to hit him right at the edge of his old break.

"There's no need for a pin or anything like that. Just tape it up. He should be able to play kinda through it."

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