How quickly the narrative can change. When Isaiah Thomas originally became the newest addition to the already potent Phoenix Suns backcourt, expectations were high for the point guard hydra. In his first 15 games with the team, Thomas was mostly brilliant in his sixth man role, leading the team in scoring (15.5 points per game) while the Suns built a 9-6 record.
But many were quick to criticize I.T.’s role as quick trigger off the bench, mostly because it seemed to cause cohesion problems on a team whose biggest strength last year was team chemistry. Goran Dragic and Eric Bledsoe — the two best players for the Suns last season — seemed to struggle to adapt in particular.
Suddenly three point starting-caliber point guards in the same backcourt became a curse and Suns Twitter was quick to jump on the “We need to trade somebody!” bandwagon.
While I do believe Thomas’ arrival is the reason behind Dragic’s and Bledsoe’s early struggles, the last three games have served as a prime example of why this new-look Suns team severely needs I.T. on the floor.
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Phoenix has now lost two of its last three games while Thomas has sat out with a right ankle contusion. The lone win came in an impressive home victory over the Denver Nuggets, ending Denver’s five-game win streak. Dragic put up 20 points, five rebounds and four assists, Bledsoe had 21 points, 10 assists and three steals and Gerald Green added 24 off the bench. It was all too easy for the Isaiah Thomas critics to point to that one game as an indicator that the backcourt would thrive if it wasn’t so crowded.
But what about the last two games? In a road loss to the Nuggets, the Suns found themselves down big early with no bench savior ready to bail them out. Denver ended up winning by 25 points and the Suns failed to reach triple digits. For a team that’s hemorrhaging points on the defensive end, not even reaching 100 points is almost a sure way to lose.
The Denver loss was ugly, but it wasn’t the end of the world. The Nuggets are playing great basketball at the moment and it was the day after Thanksgiving. Maybe the Suns just had too much stuffing the night before, right? Wrong.
Last night’s embarrassing home loss to the Orlando Magic emphasized Phoenix’s need for bench production on a night-to-night basis. The Suns once again failed to reach triple digits, falling at home 93-90 to a team that is a long shot to make the playoffs in the Eastern Conference. For a team with playoff aspirations, those are games you just can’t afford to lose if you’re the Suns.
So...do some fans out there still think the Suns should look to trade Thomas?
— Sean Sullivan (@SeanSullivanNBA) December 1, 2014
Phoenix’s bench was actually outscored by Orlando’s lowly group of reserves in that game. Green had a breathtaking dunk after he passed the ball off the backboard to himself, but other than that the bench was deathly quiet. Even worse, Phoenix’s starting backcourt duo has proven in the last two games that even with Thomas sidelined, they’re still struggling to find their consistency.
In the loss to Denver, Dragic finished with seven points and three assists while going 3-for-9 from the field. Though he was the best player on the floor for Phoenix last night (22 points on 7-of-15 shooting, eight assists and four rebounds), Dragic still committed five turnovers and this time it was Bledsoe who failed to show up.
Bledsoe has actually struggled in each of his last two games. Though he had 16 points against the Nuggets, he went 4-of-14 from the floor. Against the Magic last night, he finished with 13 points and six assists, but he shot 5-for-14 from the field and committed six ugly turnovers, most of which came at crucial moments in the game and killed Phoenix’s momentum.
Isaiah Thomas is by no means perfect. He’s not a great defender and on the nights where his shot isn’t falling, he is fully capable of shooting his team out of a game. But he’s also the Suns’ leading scorer and if the last couple of games are any indication, Phoenix needs his consistent scoring off the bench to make up for whatever’s going on with Bledsoe and Dragic right now.
With Channing Frye no longer around to spread the floor, we knew this would be a work in progress. There’s some definite overlap going on here and Jeff Hornacek has the unfortunate task of trying to figure out who has the hot hand on a nightly basis.
But the sky isn’t falling yet, Chicken Littles. Even at 10-8, the Suns are eighth in the West and once I.T. gets back in the lineup, this team will get a chance to build its chemistry back up en route to competing for a playoff spot.