The Suns will not survive many nights when the starting lineup opens the first and second halves by getting outscored 15-8 and 14-9 before a reserve plays.
That is how Sunday unraveled in Oklahoma City but, for the most part, the starters have fared well when they avoid foul trouble to stay together. The quintet of Eric Bledsoe, Brandon Knight, T.J. Warren, Markieff Morris and Tyson Chandler has outscored opponents by an average of almost five points per game in about 17 minutes of average shared court time. As a unit, they have made a turnover only once every four minutes and shot 47 percent while keeping opponents at 44 percent.