Phoenix Suns: Fourth Quarter Focus
The Phoenix Suns have started games slowly — but they’ve made up for it in the fourth quarter
At 11-8, the Phoenix Suns aren’t panicking, but they aren’t doing cartwheels in the lockerroom, either. There’s been a noticeable lack of energy early in games and it’s forcing the Suns to go into overdrive late in games to make up for it. They key is going to be finding a way to get the energy level up earlier in games.
On a per-game basis, the Suns have been outscored in each of the first three quarters, by an average of one point per game. It’s not much, but it’s notable when we look at their fourth quarter performance, which is a terrific plus-3.1.
Through the first 19 games, the Suns are 8-2 on the season when ahead going into the fourth quarter (and 5-0 on the road). When behind, they’re just 3-6 (0-4 on the road). What’s been the big difference?
CHANGE OF FOCUS
When talking about professionals, we have to be a bit careful about questioning focus, hustle and desire — but the numbers don’t lie. On the offensive end, the Suns shoot better from the field (46.9 percent) than in any quarter. Their 85.2 percent from the foul line highlight why they’re able to close games so well.
On the defensive side of things, it’s like night and day from earlier in the game. The Suns allow opponents to shoot 47 percent in the first quarter, 47.2 percent in the second and then they tighten things up, allowing 43.8 in the third and just 42 percent in the fourth.
Phoenix forces more turnovers (4.5) and allows the fewest assists (4.4) of any quarter. Is that coincidence? Perhaps it’s a statistical outlier? This far into the season, we’re getting closer to where mathematicians would consider it to be a reliable sample (not quite there yet).
In the last five minutes of games when the Suns are tied or within five points, they’re harassing their opponents into a paltry 28.6 percent from the field (and are shooting 55.9 percent themselves).
IT’S TUCKER’S TIME
P.J. Tucker didn’t get inserted into the starting lineup until just recently, but that doesn’t mean he wasn’t getting key minutes down the stretch. While Gerald Green would likely be looked at as the offensive sparkplug, it’s Tucker who has that kind of impact on the defensive end. He’s often locked up against the other team’s best player and so far, he’s been terrific.
In the fourth quarter, Tucker is posting a terrific 91 defensive rating. When combined with his offensive rating of 119, he leads all Suns players (with more than 50 fourth quarter minutes) with a net rating of 28. When Tucker leaves the court, the team’s defensive rating jumps to 100.9.
When Tucker’s on the court in the fourth, opponents shoot just 37.7 percent from the field, compared to 45.3 percent when he’s on the bench. Of the nine players with more than 55 minutes of fourth quarter play, Tuckers PIE (Player Impact Estimate) is a team-best 68 percent.
GETTING FOCUSED EARLIER
The trick for the Suns is getting that kind of focus and team effort earlier in the game so they can close teams out instead of having to make a furious comeback. Coach Jeff Hornacek talked about his team’s effort in recent press conferences with references to “harder practices” and mentions that the team was too complacent.
It’s somewhat true — the Suns had such good results last year (compared to expectations) that it’s easy to get complacent. Instead of having the same chip on their shoulders with a focus on proving everyone wrong, they’ve seemed to fall into the trap of believing their own hype. Go look at the Charlotte Hornets to see the worst-case scenario there.
This team needs to take a look at where they’ve come from to see where they could end up if they’re not careful. Anthony Tolliver has been on seven teams in eight years. Gerald Green was playing in Russia as recently as 2010-11. Tucker bounced around in Israel, Ukraine, Greece, Italy and Germany for five years.
The point is, if any team should have a chip on their shoulders and should have reason to be focused at all times, it’s this team. Remembering what life was like back then might motivate them to be more focused earlier in games so that they may avoid ever going back.
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