Suns - #5
Last Week: 1-2
Net Rating: +3.2
Stock Up: Jusuf Nurkic
Injuries continue to dominate the Suns’ season. Right when Kevin Durant returns upon the Suns extending their winning streak to seven games, Devin Booker departs with an ankle injury. The biggest difference this week compared to the rest of the season was their three-point shooting completely falling off a cliff, making a league-worst 8.3 threes per game on just 31.6 percent shooting. It’s starting to become a real concern that their Big Three’s lack of availability so far could mean they won’t be whole come playoff time.
The Suns are 9-2 with Devein Booker in uniform, with the two losses having (weirdly) come against the Spurs and Raptors. The second of those two losses (Wednesday in Toronto) was doubly damaging, as ankle issues caused Booker to miss Phoenix’s marquee matchup with the Nuggets two nights later.
Three takeaways
The Suns have been one of the better first-quarter teams in the league, but they lost their first quarters to Toronto and Denver by a total score of 68-50. They erased double-digit deficits in both games, but couldn’t finish either comeback and, at 0-5, remain one of three teams (the Pistons and Wizards are the others) that haven’t won a game they trailed by at least 10 points.
One worry about the Suns this season was the “two is less than three” match. Not surprisingly, Booker and Kevin Durant are two of the nine players who’ve taken at least 100 shots from outside the paint, with more of those shots coming from mid-range than from 3-point range. But the Suns are still in the middle of the pack in 3-point rate (37.5%), having seen the league’s ninth biggest jump from last season. And 79% of the team’s 3-point attempts, the league’s fourth highest rate, have come off the catch.
The Suns also have the league’s fourth lowest opponent 3-point rate, with only 35.8% of their opponents shots having come from beyond the arc. With that and top-10 marks in both 3-point percentage and opponent 3-point percentage, they’ve outscored their opponents by 3.2 points per game from 3-point range, the league’s eighth best differential and up from plus-2.3 last season.
Of course, Bradley Beal, who took slightly more 3-point shots (217) than mid-range shots (212) last season, hasn’t been a big part of that math yet. His back strain was scheduled to be re-evaluated this week.
The Suns will be in L.A. for the In-Season Tournament quarterfinals on Tuesday, having lost their first two meetings with the Lakers by a total of just eight points. They were without Booker for both games (Beal played in one), and scored just 17 points on 21 total clutch possessions over the two.
I think Eubanks should be a lock as well, so that’s 7.
I think right now, maybe Goodwin and Little? Tough choice leaving KBD and Josh out tho. I like Josh but offensively you can’t trust him and teams will take advantage. KDB might play a role when when we go KD as center to add length and height. For me, Goodwin and little have shown more offensive pop, especially Goodwin recently in those early 4th quarter mins. All the pros Okogie brings both Little and Goodwin can replicate together.
One thing Goodwin does that drives me crazy is doesn't take the open 3 but instead drives in the lane and puts up a contested shot that is usually at least partially blocked.
I think Eubanks should be a lock as well, so that’s 7.
I think right now, maybe Goodwin and Little? Tough choice leaving KBD and Josh out tho. I like Josh but offensively you can’t trust him and teams will take advantage. KDB might play a role when when we go KD as center to add length and height. For me, Goodwin and little have shown more offensive pop, especially Goodwin recently in those early 4th quarter mins. All the pros Okogie brings both Little and Goodwin can replicate together.
Matchup always plays a factor, but Eubanks should at least start in the rotation against pretty much any team. I wouldn't rule out Metu eventually getting more minutes than Eubanks against certain teams. Same goes for Little, Okogie, and KBD. It depends on who best fits the game plan for a series or even specific game. Goodwin is the only one I can fairly confidently say would struggle to get real minutes because he'd have no fewer than 4 guys ahead of him.
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