Isaiah Thomas made his Phoenix Suns debut a memorable one, shooting 9-of-11 for 23 points off the bench in a 119-99 rout of the Los Angeles Lakers on Wednesday.
Thomas, the former King who signed a four-year deal with Phoenix this offseason, accepted a lesser role in hopes of being the missing piece for the playoff-hopeful Suns.
Phoenix, which was projected to finish near the bottom of the standings a season ago, surprised by finishing a game shy of the eighth seed in a loaded Western Conference.
All five starters reached double figures for the Suns, with Marcus Morris hitting five threes en route to 21 points. Goran Dragic scored 18 points and Eric Bledsoe went for 16 points and nine assists before getting ejected late in the third quarter.
For the second straight night, Kobe Bryant was the lone bright spot for the Lakers. Bryant scored 31 points on 25 shots while the rest of LA's starters had 25 points combined on the same number of looks.
Los Angles has been outscored 84-18 from the 3-point line through two games.
[SportsNetwork.com]
