Phoenix Suns: 3 reasons this time might be different
3. Tidying up the defense and a few key areas
The Phoenix Suns are nowhere near being an elite defensive team, but they have shored things up on that end over the last nine games.
Though they’re still the second-worst defense in the league in 2018-19, with a defensive rating of 113.2, over this more successful stretch they’ve improved that figure to 109.3, which ranks 17th in the NBA. They’re still below-average by the numbers, but even “average” is a major step up for many of the team’s turnstiles on that end.
From a disinterested Trevor Ariza to a banged up Devin Booker to Ryan Anderson to T.J. Warren to an inexperienced Deandre Ayton, the Suns spent the first part of their season giving a majority of their rotation minutes to major negatives on the defensive end.
With Tyler Johnson and Kelly Oubre Jr. joining the mix, Booker getting healthy and being more invested, Ayton quietly making strides, Mikal Bridges earning more minutes, the Suns aren’t abhorrent on defense anymore.
They’re creating deflections (15.9 per game over the last nine games ranks third in the league), getting steals (9.8 per game, ranked first) and have slightly cut down on opponent fast break points (15.2 per game, which still ranks 23rd, but is far superior compared to their rank of 29th for the season).
On the other end, the Suns rank 16th in offensive rating over the last nine games (108.9). It’s not just because Oubre is balling, Booker is fully healthy or Johnson has found his groove, but also because of their increased emphasis on getting to the foul line.
For the season, the Suns only average 22.3 free throw attempts per game (21st). In the last nine games, they’ve attempted 27.8 free throws per game, which ranks second. Booker has led that charge with 8.4 per game, while Oubre (4.3), Johnson (3.4) and Ayton (3.2) aren’t far behind. Considering the Suns are converting those freebies at an 81.6 percent clip, it’s no wonder those easy points are helping this group stay in games.