Doug Haller

azcentral sports

Perhaps the most encouraging thing Suns coach Earl Watson saw in Sunday night's loss to the reigning champ Cleveland Cavaliers: The Suns played with an edge. Not for the whole game. Not in the first half when Cleveland bolted to a 22-point lead.

But in the second half, particularly the third quarter when the Suns might have played their best basketball of the season. The effort fueled the Suns' defense, the reason they climbed back into the contest, ultimately falling 120-116.

"You have to play nasty,'' Watson said. "I think sometimes younger players feel like that's not a cool way to play. There's no cool way to play in the NBA. You can't be cool and win games. So whether you're the Cavs or San Antonio or Golden State, whenever they play each other it's always a nasty game. It's always a scrap. It's always edgy. It's always elbows. Someone's always falling. Our team did a great job in the second half of creating a style of basketball defensively that created an edge."

GET THE SUNS XTRA APP:iPhone | Android

The next step: Making that attitude a part of their basketball DNA, a process that continues in Mexico City, where the Suns will face the Dallas Mavericks on Thursday and San Antonio on Saturday. At 12-26, the Suns are on the ocean floor of the Pacific Division. Even so, entering Monday, they remained just 3.5 games behind Portland for the eighth spot in the Western Conference playoff race, just one decent winning streak from contention. At some point, however, the effort will have to be something they can count on each night and not just a luxury.

Trailing 69-53 at halftime Sunday, Watson said his message was simple. Get deflections. Get on the ball. Be aggressive. Get in someone's face. Leave it on the court. The result was a defensive-fueled offense. The Suns forced 11 turnovers in the second half. They had 22 fast-break points, rallying from 22 down to push Cleveland to the final horn.

RELATED: Suns rally before LeBron, Cavs pull away for win

Eric Bledsoe said he's not sure the Suns would've rallied in such a way last month.

"I do not think so,'' the point guard said, "but that's what it takes. It takes experience. Last month, there were a couple games where we were getting beat like that and we just dropped our heads and started pointing fingers. (Sunday,) we manned up, took ownership and went out there and played."

Forward P.J. Tucker is not one to make grand conclusions – not off one half, one game or even a stretch. He prefers to let the moment speak for itself, but he did admit this: If the Suns can duplicate Sunday's second-half effort, they'll have a chance to win a lot more than they have through the season's first two months.

"It was probably some of the best defense we played all year,'' Tucker said. "Everybody was getting into their man, whether it was non-shooters, shooters, ball handlers, non-ball handlers. We had a sense of urgency as a team."

BICKLEY: LeBron shows Suns, fans who is king

Watson said it's part of this team's evolution, one he compared with that of LeBron James. Early in his career, James played on teams that struggled, Watson said. As he matured, the knock on him was his 3-point shooting. Then it became his reluctance to take big shots. Ultimately, all those experiences helped shape James into what he is today, an NBA champion.

On a different level, the same goes with Marquese Chriss. The rookie forward battled Kevin Love for most of Sunday's game. He shot 4 of 11 and grabbed only three rebounds, but he also had flash moments. Chriss spun off Love for a dunk off a lob. He made a nice behind-the-back touch pass to T.J. Warren, one of his season-high four assists. He deflected a post-entry pass to Love, then rotated to reject Iman Shumpert, who had picked up the loose ball.

"It's a process and journey with every player," Watson said. "We have to remember that. Some of our 19-year-olds need to turn 20 first. And our 20-year-old needs to turn 21. (Rookie point guard) Tyler (Ulis) just turned 21. We have a lot of 21st birthdays coming around here. We're excited about the birthday parties."

Contact Doug Haller at 602-444-4949 or at doug.haller@arizonarepublic.com. Follow him at Twitter.com/DougHaller.