NBA Game Preview - Utah at Phoenix

Mon Oct 28, 2019 10:00 PM EDT

Success came in threes for both Phoenix and Utah on Saturday. The teams will meet Monday in Phoenix to see if their long-range exploits continue.

The Jazz made a season-high 18 3-pointers and tied a franchise record with 13 threes in the first half while routing Sacramento 113-81 on Saturday, while the Suns made 17 threes and tied a franchise non-overtime record with 43 attempts from distance while handing the Los Angeles Clippers a 130-122 defeat.

Bojan Bogdanovic made five threes and Donovan Mitchell and Jeff Green had three apiece in Utah's win over Sacramento. Devin Booker and big men Frank Kaminsky and Dario Saric had three threes apiece when the Suns beat the Clippers.

"We all live long enough to have good days and bad days," said Jazz coach Quin Snyder, whose team shot 48.6 percent from 3-point range after making 28.6 percent in the first two games.

"Guys were being unselfish and finding the hot hand," Jazz guard Michael Conley said.

More than the long ball, however, the impetus for each team's 2-1 start has come at the defensive end, where both have excelled.

The Jazz have held all three opponents to under 40 percent shooting from the field, and the Suns have done that twice. Entering Sunday's games, the Jazz ranked third in the league in field-goal percentage defense (38.4); the Suns were fifth (41.4).

While two-time reigning NBA Defensive Player of the Year Rudy Gobert anchors the Jazz defense in the paint, the Suns have split their last two games with Aron Baynes and Kaminksy holding down the center spot in the absence of Deandre Ayton, who was suspended for 25 games for violating the league's anti-drug policy Thursday.

Kaminsky, a 7-footer signed in the offseason to add veteran depth, has 37 points and 19 rebounds off the bench in the two games Ayton has missed.

"From Day 1, coach has talked about setting the tone on the defensive end," Kaminsky said of first-year coach Monty Williams. "All three games, we've really set the tone the first half, that we're here to play defense. Nothing is going to come easy."

Williams also has stressed a "no-stick" offense, in which players should pass, dribble or shoot in five-tenths of a second. They were averaging a league-high 29.3 assists per game entering Sunday, led by veteran Ricky Rubio (10.0) and Booker (8.3).

"We're resilient," said Suns forward Kelly Oubre Jr., who has scored at least 20 points in all three games. "We're together. We're ambitious and hungry. We have to keep it that way."

Mitchell is averaging 23.7 points and 6.0 rebounds per game and is shooting 58.7 percent from the field.

The Jazz won all four games against Phoenix last season by an average score of 118.3-93.5, and they have won 14 of the last 15 meetings.

--Field Level Media