Kelly Oubre Jr. opened the scoring for the Suns with a direct challenge of Rudy Gobert in the paint. Oubre nailed a tough floater, a great sign after Gobert firmly won that battle during these teams’ meeting back in November. Oubre won’t be afraid to challenge anyone, but he’s also best when he sees a few go in.
In general, the Suns did a great job early combating Utah’s tough defense by moving the ball intelligently and finding openings. Devin Booker found Deandre Ayton for an easy dunk to put the Suns up, 12-7, a few minutes into the opening period.