Have the Phoenix Suns Found Their Bench Scorer?

Duane Washington lit up the scoreboard in Phoenix's final preseason game. Have the Suns found their much needed scoring prowess outside of the starting five.

There's plenty of established players waiting on the bench for the Phoenix Suns. 

Don't tell Duane Washington Jr. that. 

In Phoenix's preseason finale, Washington scored 31 points while also gathering two rebounds and four assists as well. 

However, 11 turnovers would haunt the backup guard throughout the night. The next closest player on either team had four. 

“The scoring is something we knew that he could do well, he doesn’t have any fear. Sometimes it helps and sometimes it gets him in trouble, but I thought the ability to make tough shots, attack the paint, I thought he made some good pocket passes early that helped us," said Monty Williams following the game. 

"But 11 turnovers is something that when you have a night like that of 31 points, I’m sure he’s going to be kicking himself over some of the turnovers. I thought, it’s not an excuse, but I thought he was just spent. There were a few turnovers where he just had nothing in the tank. When a guy hasn’t played a ton and you get him to 38 minutes, that’s a lot. I would give him a little bit of grace with the turnovers, but I like the fearlessness, the willingness to take shots even at the end. 

"He hasn’t been in those situations so he’s probably thinking ‘timeout’, and we don’t want to call a timeout and let them setup their defenses so he goes down the floor and is willing to take that shot. I love that about him. He doesn’t have any fear and it helps him at times and sometimes it can be the thing that makes me pull the hair out of my head if I had some.”

With starters missing left and right, the Suns were down to just 10 active players available for play. Washington played 39 minutes on the floor, which paced everybody else on both sides. 

“It was a blessing. I always wanted to be in that position, and it was my first time here in Phoenix. It’s a great opportunity. I’m very frustrated with myself, losing the game, having 11 turnovers, but it’s something that I will chalk up and get better at. We’ll work on the things we need to work on, watch film, analyze it, learn from it, and forget about it," said Washington following the game.

“I know that I can score the ball at a high level, put the ball through the rim, and make shots. I believe in myself. I always have and I always will. I just have to be better, and I definitely will be. I can’t wait to watch this, break it down and figure it out.”

A major area of concern for Phoenix has been their bench depth and scoring, particularly behind Chris Paul. 

Come time for the regular season, Paul will be playing majority of the minutes. 

Yet with talk about how to preserve Paul better for the postseason, crucial minutes will be given to somebody. Landry Shamet and Cameron Payne are heavy candidates to seize control of that position thanks to experience and familiarity in Phoenix, but a new contender may have entered the ring. 

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