PHOENIX — The last pass of the possession found Grayson Allen on the right wing with the shot clock about to expire. The crowd at Mortgage Matchup Center grew antsy. Allen knew he had to catch and fire.
The Phoenix Suns’ most impressive possession in Monday night’s 121-98 win over the New Orleans Pelicans unfolded without star guard Devin Booker. In fact, only two starters were on the court when Allen released his deep jumper. He was one. Forward Royce O’Neale was the other.
“It was almost a shot-clock violation,” Suns coach Jordan Ott said.
The possession consisted of 10 passes, seven dribbles and three paint touches. Most importantly, it showed why these Suns are starting to find themselves, winners of five of six to improve to 6-5. Their unselfishness is a strength.
“A whole new vibe,” Booker said.
Two minutes into the second quarter, O’Neale grabbed a defensive rebound with the Suns leading the short-handed Pelicans 35-25. The veteran forward dribbled into the front court and stopped.
Pass 1 — O’Neale dished to Allen up top. Allen pump-faked, getting Pelicans guard Jordan Hawkins into the air. Allen would score a career-high 42 points on this night. He would make a franchise record 10 3-pointers on 15 attempts. Booker thought that, had this game remained close, Allen could’ve challenged Klay Thompson’s single-game record of 14 3s in 2018. However, with Hawkins in the air, Allen dribbled into the lane.
Passes 2 and 3 — Allen dished to O’Neale on the right wing. Last week, Ott had called O’Neale, who has made at least two 3s in every game this season, an elite NBA shooter. He’s also versatile. O’Neale dribbled left into the lane and leaped. But Hawkins, who had switched on him, was right there, right arm raised. O’Neale threw high to Isaiah Livers in the left corner. After three seasons in Detroit, Livers had missed all of last season recovering from hip surgery. In Phoenix, he has been a surprise contributor, adding perimeter length. The 6-foot-6 Livers leaped high to save O’Neale’s pass from going out of bounds.
Pass 4 — Livers passed back to O’Neale, who had cut through the lane. Entering Monday, the Suns ranked seventh in the league in assists (27.8 per game) and fifth in potential assists (52.2), reflecting their ball movement. “We want everybody to shine,” Livers said. Against New Orleans, 19 of Phoenix’s 29 assists would come from players off the bench.
Pass 5 — O’Neale dished to Allen back up top. The offense reset. In the second half, as Allen caught fire on the court, injured guard Jalen Green would fire up Allen on the bench, “Go get 40. Go get 50.” However, on this possession, Allen was too far out. The shot clock was at 10. Statistically, the longer a possession goes, the more difficult it is to score. This is why Ott almost always wants the Suns to take the first good shot they see. As Allen looked for an open teammate, the Suns were in a shot-clock range (7 to 15 seconds) in which they had shot 45.9 percent. Once the shot clock hit 4 seconds, that percentage would drop to 37.7, per NBA advanced stats. (Last season, Phoenix shot a league-high 40.8 percent in the final 4 seconds of the shot clock — it helps to have Kevin Durant.)
Passes 6 and 7 — Allen passed to big man Oso Ighodaro and cut behind him. Ighodaro flipped the ball back to Allen. On the television broadcast, Suns analyst and former NBA player Eddie Johnson noted how the Suns’ spacing and ball movement had drawn the New Orleans defenders away from the basket.
Pass 8 — Allen fired to O’Neale on the left wing. The Pelicans (2-8) scrambled to recover. Hawkins raced out to O’Neale. “It’s hard to guard when the ball is popping,” said Booker, who watched this unfold from the bench. “Even if you’re not shooting it, even if you get to swing the ball, at least you got to touch it and you have a feel for it for whenever you get an open shot.” The shot clock was down to 4 seconds.
Pass 9 — O’Neale threw a quick pass to Livers in the corner, hoping his teammate could get up a clean shot before Pelicans guard Jose Alvarado contested, but Alvarado was too fast. Livers drove into the lane, drawing two New Orleans defenders and spotted Allen, who slid to his left, giving Livers a better passing angle.
Pass 10 — Livers passed to Allen on the weak side.
Booker has been Phoenix’s best player this season. Allen has been second, and it hasn’t been close. Through 11 games, he’s averaging 18.6 points and 4.6 assists, both career-high marks. Allen says he’s playing his best basketball. Ott wants him to put up more shots, even if they are contested.
Allen didn’t have time to think. “I knew when I caught it, it had to go up right away,” he said. The shot swished, the second of Allen’s 10 3-pointers. O’Neale yelled. Center Nick Richards raised both arms on the bench.
“I definitely think it’s uncommon,” Allen said of Phoenix’s willingness to share. “Especially for a group that hasn’t been together for years and years. It takes a lot of trust in each other to not just say, ‘I’m going to go get it,’ and force your way into a shot. … That’s what’s cool about our offense — the majority of the time we’re going to find the right person to get the shot. It doesn’t matter who it is, it’s whoever’s open.”
It’s serving Phoenix well.
