Phoenix Suns

Suns Turn Their Offense Over to Markieff Morris

Mark J. Rebilas/USA TODAY Sports

PHOENIX, AZ — The Phoenix Suns found a way to bring forward Markieff Morris out of his season-long funk.

All it took was entrusting him with the offense.

Now, the guy who demanded a trade this summer can demand the ball with seeming impunity.

Suns interim coach Earl Watson identified Morris as the No. 1 option and rookie guard Devin Booker as No. 2 for the final 30-plus games of the season, when he plans to add more structure to the offense, and it played out exactly that way in a 104-97 loss to Toronto on Tuesday.

The Suns’ loss was the 20th in their last 22 games, but they didn’t go down without a fight.

Or without Morris as the leading man.

Morris filled the stat line — 30 points on 20 field goal attempts, 11 rebounds, six assists, two blocked shots, one steal, four turnovers. He had season highs in every category but steals, turnovers and field goal attempts.

The guy who threw a towel at his former coach five weeks ago was throwing in shots from all over — a couple of 15-footers from the elbow and baseline, a driving slam down the lane, a three-pointer from the left wing.

He’ll get a chance to do it again.

“He is the main focus of our offense moving forward, we know that,” Watson said.

“He went out there every play and that was his role, to lead us. He accepted that. It’s a tough situation for him, but as the coach and the teacher of this team, I love him. We nurture him. We embrace him. We help him grow while he is here, no matter what.”

The Suns took more of a tough-love tack earlier this season. After Morris threw a towel toward former coach Jeff Hornacek following removal in the third quarter of a 104-96 loss to Denver on Dec. 23, Hornacek had no trouble explaining the move.

“He’s mad about not playing,” Hornacek said in his postgame media briefing. “I look at the stat sheet. He’s a minus-13 in 12 minutes. So I took him out. He thinks he’s better than that. Show me.”

Watson appears to have made Morris a pet project, seven months after Morris said he wanted to be traded when twin brother Marcus was sent to Detroit as a way to clear salary cap space for a run at LaMarcus Aldridge.

Before the shootaround Tuesday morning, Watson spoke with Morris and other players and delineated roles. Morris and Booker will be the main scorers, Tyson Chandler will rebound and play defense, bench minutes will be doled out primarily for action and energy on the defensive end.

Despite inconsistent performances and seeming inconsistent effort, Morris is the go-to guy. All things come to those who pout.

“We are embracing people for who they are, not changing them to become something else,” Watson said of his general approach. “The only thing we want to do is create one movement, create one edge, and play with a passion and a focus with a purpose bigger than ourselves.

“It’s just a feel, and I had a feeling that if I gave him positive encouragement and let him know that no matter what, we love him. Just let him know he is going to play, he is going to play big minutes.”

Morris is a useful offensive player who’d increased his scoring average in each of his previous three seasons with the Suns before back-sliding this year. He averaged 15.3 points and 6.2 rebounds last year, when he played 31.5 minutes a game while playing in all 82. He is averaging 23.8 minutes in 33 games this year.

Morris was understandably pleased.

“We changed the offense a little bit,” Morris said.

“Coach told me we were going to me a lot more. I knew where I was going to get the ball at and picking my spots. That was one of the first things he did. He addressed everybody’s role and let everybody know what was going to happen. We were just trying to find it previously. We didn’t have too such structure. Just free-wheeling it.”

Booker had 27 points Tuesday, his ninth straight game scoring in double figures. The 13th player taken in the 2015 draft, Booker has played better than that after moving into the starting lineup following the Dec. 26 injury to Eric Bledsoe.

“One kid who I think is going to be special is Devin Booker,” Watson said at his introductory press conference. “I was with ‘KD’ (Kevin Durant) his rookie year and now I’m seeing Devin at the same age. Devin is way more efficient. ‘KD’ is ‘KD’ because he’s 6’11 and he’s athletic, but Devin can get better.

“I think you have a superstar in that.”

Booker was 9-of-19 while tying a career-high six three-pointers (in 14 attempts) Tuesday. Durant’s wasn’t the only name Watson dropped on Booker.

“I told Devin he has a chance to be one of the best ‘2’ guards to play, and this is an important year for him as he watches Kobe (Bryant) go through retirement. I told him to visualize that, embrace it. There is a reason why you came into the league and he is retiring at the same time.”

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