PHOENIX — After not playing in the preseason due to an uptick in his conditioning and strength, Mark Williams showed why the Suns traded two first-round picks for him in his debut in Phoenix.
He was +15 in his 24 minutes in the team’s season opener Wednesday with six points, 11 rebounds and two blocks. Collin Gillespie (+9) was the only other Sun above +4.
The center responded well physically immediately after the game, head coach Jordan Ott said.
“There’s a buildup to it, and it’s tough to open the season back-to-back (at the Los Angeles Clippers and Denver Nuggets),” Ott said Thursday. “We’re going to take it one game at a time to see exactly how it feels tonight into tomorrow.
“But it looked pretty good on the pitch and his first reaction here (in training) was pretty good.”
Exceeding a “target number” of minutes where Ott wanted Williams, the center played about the last half of each quarter, while also playing most of the fourth quarter.
His only stint with more than six consecutive minutes played came between 4:57 left in the third quarter and 7:06 left in the game. He was back with 4:20 to go and was going all the way.
Phoenix was down 10 to start its longest stint and up four when it got out.
With Williams’ many minutes lining up with Devin Booker, there was plenty of time to address issues that didn’t exist during the preseason. Even so, none of his three shots – all dunks – came from Booker.
“I think I missed it on two or three lobs, which some coaches have told me and it’s definitely something I’ll go back and get used to,” Booker said after the game. “He’ll go get it. … Having a rim threat like that, someone who can catch him, I have to reward him for that.”
Williams said it was good for both men to get their first chance to play in a game together, and he’s confident the more it happens, the better it will get.
Suns Jalen Green Update
Jalen Green will not play back-to-back after aggravating a right hamstring injury earlier this month, Ott confirmed Thursday.
Green is expected to travel with the team, Ott said.
An update on Green’s schedule could come at the end of the road trip, which ends in Salt Lake City against the Utah Jazz on Monday.
Ott’s initial update pegged the Los Angeles Clippers game on Friday as the time when more information could arrive.
