Paul Coro

azcentral sports

Wednesday’s game: Kings (0-0) at Suns (0-0)

Tip-off: 7 p.m.

TV/Radio: FSAZ/KMVP-FM 98.7

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Today’s pregame Orange Slices:

* Since Halloween 2001, Tyson Chandler has seen many NBA opening-night spectacles.

He has won more (nine) than he has lost (five) and missed only one. He has posted three double-doubles. He has opened with championship aspirations and sketchy situations.

For the Suns’ Wednesday night opener against Sacramento, he likes where he is at. That is not because he will have to deal with DeMarcus Cousins, the toughest big man to cover in the NBA. It is not because he is being reminded of his age by having five Suns teammates who were in preschool or kindergarten when he opened his NBA career in 2001. And it is not because he is being promised major playing time.

“This is different for me,” Chandler said. “I truly feel blessed to be here. I’m not just saying that. Sitting and talking with Coach (Earl Watson), it’s an incredible opportunity. In the past, I used to be, ‘Game 1, Game 1, Game 1!’ So hyped up. But it’s really about the journey and seeing this team and younger guys through.”

There might be nights this season that Chandler does not play or has limited action because the Suns are developing 23-year-old Alex Len to be the franchise center and they want Chandler, 34, to be healthy for the season’s back stretch. Tonight will not be one of those nights because of Cousins, who shot 66 percent this preseason and averaged 26.9 points and 11.5 rebounds last season.

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Chandler is coming around to the idea of backing off at times early in the season for the sake of the long haul. He gets it but also expects to be at the level he played after the All-Star break last season, when his statistics were in line with his career for field goal percentage and rebounding.

“You’re in certain places for a reason,” Chandler said. “If you’re constantly looking around and not just being in that moment and not understanding your true purpose, you get lost. We’re doing things the right way. For me, my impact is most important.”

* Chandler on Cousins: “He’s an incredible player. You have to make things difficult for him. That’s what I do as a defender regardless of who I guard. The game hasn’t seen a player like him in a long time, since somebody like (Charles) Barkley). The game hasn’t seen a big fella like that who is so skilled.”

* Watson on Cousins: “He’s multi-dimensional. He can score in transition, score at the post, dominant at the elbow. He puts a lot of pressure on the bigs.

* The Suns staff is holding a game-day trivia contest among the young players with questions about the opponent’s franchise at each shootaround. Marquese Chriss is a Sacramento native but he finished runner-up to Alan Williams on Wednesday.

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* Chriss did not grow up a Kings fan but attended games and looked up to Rudy Gay, trying to model his game after the tall swingman since he arrived in Sacramento in 2013.

“I guess that’s saying I’m getting old,” said Gay, 30. “I appreciate that. That’s what you do it for – to inspire young kids growing up and hope that they end up playing with us. It’s good to see that he worked hard and got to this point.”

Chriss was unsure whether he would say something on the court to Gay now that he is a fellow pro. Gay knows the feeling from when he first went against his idol, Tracy McGrady.

“I didn’t say anything,” Gay said. “I was scared.”

* Asked Wednesday about Brandon Knight’s role as Suns sixth man, Watson offered a correction that he is the “sixth starter.”

“He deserves 30 minutes, at least,” Watson said. “We have to find creative ways to get those 30 minutes, which means other guys have to sacrifice, but it’s part of our process and journey.”

* Suns rookie Dragan Bender said he is not nervous for his NBA debut, perhaps because he has been through big first moments before in international play and when he joined Euroleague club Maccabi Tel Aviv.

“When you change stages and come to a bigger stage, you feel something different inside yourself,” Bender said. “It’s just a normal thing for a professional player. You have to deal with it. Last three years, I’ve been through a lot. Different atmospheres in Europe and different levels and importance of games. I’m kind of used to that stuff. This is just a bigger level and a bigger step and I’m excited about it.”

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* Suns forward P.J. Tucker’s message to fans: “Stick with us. If you’ve been around the team or watched the team the last few years, we’ve gone full circle in a lot of different ways but I think people should stick with us because right now I think we’re going in the right direction. We’ve got a lot of young guys that can play with a good mix of veterans. I think we’ll be able to fight with a lot of teams in the NBA.”

* Tucker will be on a playing time restriction after just being cleared from back surgery rehabilitation. That likely could be 10 to 12 reserve minutes.

* This is the sixth consecutive season that the Suns have opened the season at home.

* The Suns finished the season ranked ninth in defensive rating, in line with their top-10 expectations. They were second in opponent turnovers (22.0 per game).

* Booker finished fifth in scoring in the preseason with 19.6 points per game. Chriss ranked third among rookies for points per game (12.2) and fifth for rebounds (5.5) in the preseason.

* Sacramento added two former Suns swingmen – Matt Barnes and Anthony Tolliver – among its eight new players. Former Suns lead assistant Elston Turner now holds the same role for Sacramento.

* This is the Big Blue Nation matchup. Kentucky claims three Kings (Cousins, Willie Cauley-Stein and Skal Labissiere) and four Suns (Knight, Booker, Eric Bledsoe and Tyler Ulis).

* As of midday, the Suns were hundreds of tickets shy of a sellout for opening night.

* Cole Mickelson’s Stone Cole Fact o’ the Day: The Suns open the season with four teenagers – Dragan Bender (18), Devin Booker (19), Marquese Chriss (19) and Derrick Jones Jr. (19). Previously, no NBA team has played more than two teenagers in the same season.

* The last word goes to Watson on opening night: “It's an amazing opportunity, for our fans more importantly, to see where we are as a group and to leave the passion on the court and play with a sense of purpose that everyone can get behind and understand that the process is going to be a journey but it doesn’t always have to be a bad journey. It can be a great process along the way. It doesn’t have to be like, ‘Aw, we’re rebuilding at a high level.’ “

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Projected starting lineups

C: Tyson Chandler … Kosta Koufos

PF: Jared Dudley … DeMarcus Cousins

SF: T.J. Warren … Rudy Gay

SG: Devin Booker …. Arron Afflalo

PG: Eric Bledsoe … Ty Lawson

Key Kings reserves: Matt Barnes, Omri Casspi, Willie Cauley-Stein, Ben McLemore, Anthony Tolliver.

Key Kings injuries: No injuries. Starting point guard Darren Collison is suspended for the season’s first eight games for a guilty plea to a domestic violence charge.

Follow Coro at www.twitter.com/paulcoro .