Phoenix Suns Late Game Woes And How To Fix Them

The Phoenix Suns continue to botch late-game situations, leading to a record below .500 and a fanbase questioning coach Jeff Hornacek‘s strategies.

With 5:46 remaining and an 11-point lead against a struggling Detroit Pistons squad, the Phoenix Suns and head coach Jeff Hornacek had to feel like the game was in the bag. Before they knew it, the jumpers stopped falling and the defense couldn’t hold — leading to a one-point lead for the Pistons just three minutes and 21 seconds later.

As has been the case in the past for the Suns, they lived by the jumper early and then died by the jumper late. During a decisive 23-8 run for the Pistons that spanned the final 6:56 of the fourth quarter, the Suns went 2-for-9 on jumpshots (to go with five turnovers).

A SEASON OF NOT-SO-CLUTCH

More from Phoenix Suns

The 2015-16 season is young, but the Suns have faltered mightily in clutch situations. Phoenix has played 39 minutes with the score within five points in the last five minutes of the game. In those situations, they’re a minus-31 with 37.3 percent shooting from the field and 22.2 percent from the 3-point line.

Drill down to the last minute of games within five points and they’re shooting a ghastly 27.8 percent from the field, with the team at a minus-15. If they were playing stellar defense, perhaps it wouldn’t be a huge issue — but that’s not the case.

The Suns are allowing their opponents to shoot 55.7 percent against them in the last five minutes of games with the score within five.

When the opposing team tightens up the defense, the Suns strip the screw. How can they fix the problem?

Dec 2, 2015; Auburn Hills, MI, USA; Phoenix Suns guard Eric Bledsoe (2) drives to the basket against Detroit Pistons guard Steve Blake (22) during the third quarter at The Palace of Auburn Hills. Detroit won 127-122 in overtime. Mandatory Credit: Tim Fuller-USA TODAY Sports /

GET TO THE FOUL LINE

As a long-time ~~sufferer~~ watcher of this Suns team, I can tell you that going to the basket isn’t something they do enough. Instead of slashing with the intent of creating content, Eric Bledsoe and Brandon Knight tend to slash with the intent of kicking the ball out or taking a mid-range jumper.

The disparity of foul shots between the Suns and opposing teams is notable — Phoenix has made 20 or more free-throws in a game just once in their last 10 games, while opponents have done it five times.

In the Pistons loss, from the 4:10 mark of the 4th quarter through the end of the game, the Suns took two fouls shots to the Pistons’ 15.

Those are the clutch situations we keep talking about, where the numbers are flat-out ugly. In the last minute of games within five points, Suns opponents are 30-for-35 from the foul line (the Suns are 7-for-9). Giving up easy points and getting none is a surefire way to rack up losses.

PLAY THE HOT HAND

If basketball were played on only one end, there’s no doubt that a guy like Devin Booker would get more opportunity. The issue is, coach Hornacek just doesn’t trust playing him over Bledsoe and Knight in crunch time and he’s not strong enough defensively to play the small forward spot.

Still, what the team’s doing right now isn’t working. Despite a career-high 18 points on 5-for-6 from the field (3-for-3 from the arc), coach Hornacek opted to go with veteran shooter Mirza Teletovic at the 4:15 mark of the 4th quarter, and Booker didn’t see another shot.

The same goes for T.J. Warren, who was a team-high plus-17 on the night. He racked up 12 points and four rebounds (on 6-for-11 shooting) in 21:28, with just 2:44 of those minutes coming after the 6:30 mark of the 4th quarter.

More from Hoops Habit

I can understand the idea that coach Hornacek needs size on the court (especially with Andre Drummond out there), which is why P.J. Tucker often gets the late minutes. It’s a plan that sounds good in theory — but in practice it’s been terrible.

WAIT IT OUT

Undoubtedly, this is the option most Suns fans will hate. It sounds insane — because if something is very clearly not working, why keep it up? This Suns team goes cold and instead of finding ways to get easy buckets (going to the bucket, getting out in transition), they continue to pound their head against the wall. However, it’s not as dire as it seems.

In the Pistons loss, Knight and Bledsoe combined to go 7-for-23 on uncontested jumpers. NBA.com defines that as a shot with no defender within 3.5 feet, which is a shot that professional guards absolutely need to make.

As a team, the Suns shot 44.7 percent, with Devin Booker going a perfect 3-for-3. The Pistons shot 53.8 percent on those same shots, with Marcus Morris torching his old team on a sterling 7-of-7.

Next: NBA Power Rankings

Math can be a fickle beast and numbers don’t come back to the mean as quickly as some would like, but there’s just no way the Suns will continue to miss that many open jumpers. If the starting backcourt makes a few more, even getting two more buckets, the game is completely different. The Pistons would have been down 20 at one point and could have packed it in.

Home/Phoenix Suns