The Phoenix Suns played the Washington Wizards at the Thomas & Mack Arena, home of the UNLV Runnin’ Rebels on Friday night, winning 103-84 behind solid performances by their sophomores. Ryan Dunn had 17 points and Oso Ighodaro had 11 points and 14 rebounds in the win. The surprise? Rookie Koby Brea, who led the NCAA in three-point shooting two seasons ago and led the SEC last year, poured in 19 after going 4-of-5 from deep.

Part of the arena in which the Suns played is named after “the Shark Tank” after the UNLV coach Jerry Tarkanian, whose legendary battles with Lute Olson were the best the West had to offer in the 90s for college basketball. Trust me, the Las Vegas natives know. They know basketball.

Our own Miah Scott was at the game, taking this video of Khaman Maluach during pregame warmups:

How did the Suns win so convincingly? Here’s how...

The starters were Yuri Collins at point, Koby Brea at SG. Ryan Dunn at the wing, Oso Ighodaro at forward, and Khaman Maluach manning the center position.

Did anyone really watch the first quarter? It was some of the most frenetic play I have seen in a while. Up and down the court, turnovers, literally zero play set-ups. Just quintessential Summer League play. But you could start to see the athleticism and play of Wizards’ Tre Johnson and Suns’ Koby Brea.

Oso actually won this quarter with 10 minutes of play and solid play to tie the game up at 23-23 and zero turnovers. Brea, Collins, and Mulauch had two apiece in the TO department while the bench added two more.

To be honest, it looked like the Wizards were going to run away with this. So, to tie this up after one was pretty cool.

This is where I start to talk about Koby Brea. The shoot release was smooth and on target. He was clearly engaged in a mental battle with Tre Johnson, who held his own as well.

Koby shot 4-of-5 for the field and 3-of-4 from three while going to the line for a free throw. This guy could be special, folks.

The Suns pulled away by outscoring the Wizards 24 to 16. The end of the half score was 47-39. The game chat is happy and beginning to feel the stirrings of hope.

Can the Suns win another quarter? Well, yes, they can! Suns outscored the Wizards 28-21 in Q3.

This was another Koby Brea moment where he now increased his statline to 7-of-9 shooting, but there has to be a tip of the hat to Ryan Dunn, who is 5-of-9 but still can’t shoot threes. Dunn was 1-of-4 from beyond the arc to this point. Oso was also holding steady and had the most minutes played by a mile. He is four of five on field goals and settling down a bit.

Suns up, 75-60.

I am honestly not sure who to highlight here. Boogie Ellis out of USC, or the last person I expected to be a point guard in Yuri Collins. They both played very well.

Let’s give it to Boogie. Anybody who names their kid Boogie (unless you are related to Cousins) should get the nod. He would finish with 15 points off the bench and 4 of 6 from beyond the arc.

Suns actually win another quarter, and if you are keeping count, that is one tie, and three quarters won. Mind blown. Suns take the fourth, 28 to 24.

Final score 103-84.

I called a close game, but I did not expect a blow-out against a good young Wizards team. I actually see a cohesive young Suns unit that could very well pay dividends in the future. In fact, color me impressed.

Could the Summer Suns actually win the Summer League Cup? I would not put it past them.

Next up for the Phoenix Suns? They take the court in Las Vegas on Sunday at 12:30pm to play the Atlanta Hawks, who defeated the Miami Heat today, led by 29 points from Kobe Bufkin. We’ll see you then, Bright Side!

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