Phoenix Suns: Roster Shakeup Leaves Offense Lacking
By Phil Watson
The Phoenix Suns and their high-powered offense haven’t been mentioned in the same breath very much lately.
That’s because the Suns are in a historically awful stretch of offensive play. In losing back-to-back games at home to the San Antonio Spurs on Feb. 28 and to the Golden State Warriors on Monday, Phoenix set a franchise record by scoring 80 points or less in consecutive home games for the first time in team history.
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Since reshuffling the roster at the trading deadline, with the addition of guard Brandon Knight from the Milwaukee Bucks and the departures of guards Goran Dragic and Isaiah Thomas (I’d include Zoran Dragic, but come on, dude played in just six games), the Suns are averaging just 99.7 points per game and have an offensive rating of 97.9.
That compares to their full-season totals of 104.9 points per game and an offensive rating of 104.5.
The Suns were the fourth-highest scoring team in the NBA before the trade deadline at 105.9 points per game and their offensive rating of 105.9 ranked seventh.
Since the trade deadline, Phoenix is 14th in the league at 99.7 points per game and 23rd with an O-rating of 97.9.
Their defensive rating has gotten better—104.1 before the deadline, 101.9 since—but it hasn’t declined at the same rate as the offense has collapsed.
Not surprisingly, the Suns are 4-7 over that span. They’ve gone from tied for eighth in the West with the Oklahoma City Thunder and 1½ games up on the New Orleans Pelicans to looking up at both teams from behind a three-game deficit as they have sunk to 10th place.
While the Suns have gone 4-7, OKC is 6-3 and NOLA is even better at 9-3.
Shooting has become a rare commodity, with only reserves T.J. Warren and Brandan Wright shooting better than 50 percent in the last 11 games. Marcus Morris is hitting just 39.7 percent, Knight is at 37.6 percent and Gerald Green an icy 34.3 percent.
The Suns were shooting 35.9 percent from 3-point range, ninth in the league, before the deadline. They’ve hit just 31.1 percent since, 22nd in the NBA.
Knight, in particular, has been frigid upon arriving in the desert—with a shooting slash line of .376/.344/.852 since the trade after putting up .435/.409/.881 with the Bucks.
The team is at 43 percent shooting over the 11 games since the trade deadline and their shot chart shows a lot of non-green.
And, according to azcentral.com’s Paul Coro, Knight was on crutches Tuesday after leaving Monday’s game with a sprained left ankle and is out indefinitely.
Shams Charania reported Tuesday that Phoenix will bring in backcourt help in the form of Seth Curry on a 10-day contract.
Seth Curry has reached agreement with the Phoenix Suns on a 10-day contract, league sources tell RealGM. Curry has played for Erie.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) March 10, 2015
Curry has not played in the NBA this season after getting two games last season—one each with the Memphis Grizzlies and Cleveland Cavaliers.
He was in training camp with the Orlando Magic and has spent the season at their D-League affiliate, leading the Eric BayHawks in scoring at 23.5 points per game while shooting .480/.482/.919. That 48.2 percent mark from deep is third-best in the D-League despite having the second-most attempts in the circuit.
At 33-32, Hollinger’s playoff odds at ESPN are not exactly bullish on the Suns. As of today, Phoenix is projected to have just a 2.5 percent change of reaching the playoffs. New Orleans is at 26.6 percent and the Thunder are the presumptive favorite for the eighth spot at 76.9 percent.
Since the trade, Eric Bledsoe has emerged as the Suns’ top offensive threat, averaging 16.5 points, 6.6 rebounds, 6.3 assists and 1.5 steals per game on .480/.400/.750 shooting, but he’s also averaged a whopping 4.7 turnovers a night in those 11 games.
With Knight already scratched from Wednesday’s home game against the Minnesota Timberwolves and facing a multi-game absence, the Suns’ are pretty much in must-win territory over the final 17 games.
The Minnesota game is the second of five straight home games—a chance to make some hay—although the Atlanta Hawks are next in line on Friday.
The Suns do get a head-to-head opportunity to make up ground on the Pelicans on March 19.
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In all, eight of the Suns’ next nine games are at home—the lone exception being a visit to Houston on March 21—but the down side is closing with four of their final five on the road.
That will include visits to Atlanta, the Dallas Mavericks, New Orleans and San Antonio, with a home game against the Los Angeles Clippers to finish out the regular season.
The combined record of their remaining schedule is 619-456—a daunting .576 winning percentage.
If you’re thinking, “Man, that sounds tough!”, you’re not joking. That is the toughest remaining schedule in the NBA.
That seems like an awfully big mountain to climb when the offense is sputtering worse than a 1961 Ford Fairlane in need of a valve job.
Statistics via NBA.com/Stats and basketball-reference.com.
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