PHOENIX _ Maybe the Suns are last season's Nets in the sense that they are the surprise team of the NBA under first-year coach Monty Williams, who said before they faced the Nets on Sunday night at Talking Stick Resort Arena that he just wanted his team to "play free." The Nets complied from the outset, allowing the exciting young Suns a free pass to the basket all night on their way to a 138-112 victory.
In the absence of their defense, the Nets needed to pack calculators to keep track of the Suns (6-3), who had seven players score in double figures, including 27 points from Devin Booker, 22 by Ricky Rubio along with 11 assists and 18 by Kelly Oubre Jr. They converted 19 of 42 three-point shots (45.2 percent) and scored at least 31 points in each quarter.
The Nets trailed by 20 points midway through the first quarter but somehow climbed back within two midway through the second period. That was as good as it got. Their halftime deficit soared to 18 points, and the Suns led by as much as 29 in the second half.
Kyrie Irving was the only Nets (4-5) starter in double figures with 15 points and five assists, but Spencer Dinwiddie provided 18 points off the bench and DeAndre Jordan added 16 points and 12 rebounds. The Nets made just eight of 34 three-point shots for a miserable 23.5 percent.
The game figured to be a shootout between two of the hottest-shooting, most-efficient offenses in the league. The Suns came in ranked third in field goal percentage (46.8), seventh from three-point range (37.3), second in true shooting percentage (58.2), first in assists (27.0) and first in fourth-quarter scoring (31.0). The Nets were first in scoring (120.8) and three-point percentage (40.5) and fourth in true shooting (57.4).
Given the Nets' defensive struggles in the early going, it begged the question of whether they might get drawn into trading baskets with the Suns. "We have to be careful," coach Kenny Atkinson said. "We're relying on our offense right now, and I would say 70 to 80% of what we practice is defensive-oriented. We've added some talented offensive players, but we're just going to have to do a better job.
"We've got to raise our standards defensively. I think we're average to slightly below average right now. We're working on making sure that we improve there."
Saying it and doing it were two different things. After getting a stop on the Suns' first possession, the Nets allowed them to score on 10 straight possessions, including four three-pointers to fall into an early 24-11 hole. The Suns stretched their lead to 33-13 with 4:35 left in the opening period, suggesting they might be on course for a 200-point game if the trend continued.
But the Nets responded with a 17-4 run, including eight points from Dinwiddie to cut the Suns' lead to 37-30, which bordered on a miracle. Garrett Temple entered late in the period and hit a trio of three-pointers, the last of which pulled the Nets within two points midway through the second period. But once again, the Nets' defense broke down as the Suns went on a 22-6 run, including nine points from Oubre, to reach halftime with a 68-50 lead.
The Nets' starting unit had ugly defensive numbers, including minus-34 by Joe Harris and minus-31 by Irving. Only LeVert was respectable at minus-4. Plus Jarrett Allen had four fouls and quickly added his fifth with 9:47 left in the third period. The Suns pushed their lead to 29 on back-to-back threes by Booker to go up 96-67, and they finished with 38 points in the third quarter to take a 106-80 lead to the final period.
