On the first possession of his first game back for the Phoenix Suns, the ball found Bradley Beal and he let it fly.

Swish.

And with that, Brad’s return was off and running. It culminated in a Phoenix victory by that same three-point margin, 119-116. No. 3 shook off the rust and worked around a minutes restriction to score 16 points in just over 27 minutes on 5-of-12 shooting. He grabbed three rebounds, dished out three assists and added a block and a steal, which came right after that opening three, showing Brad was engaged from the get-go despite missing exactly one month with a nagging back injury.

“This is like riding a bike y’all,” he said. “I’ve been doing this what,12 years now? It isn’t going to be much different than what you’ve all seen in the past. It’s just getting my wind back now.”

Phoenix coach Frank Vogel said he was pleased with the way Brad played given his absence and knows Brad will continue to improve as he gets more time with his Suns teammates.

“It’s rhythm and timing. You can play as much pickup and practice as you want. It doesn’t simulate the game environment. Sometimes it takes shape right away. Sometimes it takes a few games. Teammates are learning him, he’s learning teammates, where guys are going to be. I can help our guys be more organized to help him with that. But very excited to have him back out there. He’s a big reason we got the W.”

Brad played the first five minutes of the game, then exited. When he returned to start the second quarter, he was anchoring the Suns second unit and Golden State opened the second quarter on a 10-0 run to take a 35-25 lead. Phoenix trailed by three at halftime and Beal had just six points at the break.

He opened the second half with the starters and played another two points before taking a seat, and then returned to once again lead the Phoenix second unit late in the third. This time, No. 3 got hot. His bucket with one tick left in the third gave the Suns the lead for good, and he added six points in the fourth to help close out the win. Afterward, Brad noted that the performance in that second quarter wasn’t good enough and said Vogel challenged the guys at halftime, and was proud of the way they responded.

“We weren’t aggressive,” Brad said. “We kind of let our foot off the gas and their second unit kicked our ass. In the second half it was the complete opposite. Coach challenged us at halftime and that was the result.”

The win for the Suns snaps a two-game losing streak. They had also lost 4-of-5 going in and now have a chance to get going in the right direction. Star Kevin Durant, who missed Tuesday’s game with an ankle injury, has a chance to play in their next game, Wednesday at home against Brooklyn, according to Vogel, and Vogel expects Brad to play the back-to-back as well, meaning that game could be the first time all three of the Phoenix big three are in the lineup at the same time. Beal doesn’t think it will take them long to gel once they are all on the floor at the same time.

“There’s a lot of people who think it will [take some time], but we’re all very unselfish players and we all have one goal in mind at the end of the day, to win the game,” Brad said. :Whatever that looks like, whatever it takes, everybody is committed to sacrificing and doing that.”

Tip-off between the Suns and Nets on Wednesday night from Footprint Center is scheduled for 7 p/m. local time and the game can be seen on Arizona’s Family Sports.