The Phoenix Suns need to steal back home-court advantage in Game 4 against the Los Angeles Lakers. Here are three key adjustments they need to make.
They’re only down 2-1 in their first-round series, but make no mistake about it: The Phoenix Suns are already on the ropes.
Although they didn’t look afraid of the moment in Game 1, most of the Suns’ core players have never been to the postseason or have limited experience there. They’re facing the defending champion Los Angeles Lakers and their top-ranked defense, they’ve already lost home-court advantage, Chris Paul has been playing with one arm since the second quarter of the series opener, and Phoenix absolutely got punked in Game 3 on the road.
LeBron James, Anthony Davis and this battle-tested Lakers team can smell blood in the water, and while the Suns have had a great season, everything they’ve worked for may already be on the line in a critical Game 4 on the road. This is their “hard,” and they responded poorly in Game 3.
“They physically get after you,” head coach Monty Williams said. “They killed us on the boards, they attacked the paint. Once I see the film, I’ll probably come up with three more things. It’s not anything we haven’t dealt with and it’s not anything we haven’t bounced back from. It’s a series. It’s 2-1. We have a lot of basketball to play and we can learn from this.”
Heading into the Suns’ do-or-die moment, here are three adjustments they need to make in order to make this a series again.
3. Hit some damn 3s
Oh, you were looking for tactical adjustments? Sorry to disappoint, but one of the biggest things the Suns can do to improve their situation is fare more simple, and it’s something they’ve done all season long: take and make some dang 3-pointers.
On paper, Phoenix’s 11-for-29 mark from long range (37.9 percent) in Game 3 doesn’t seem terrible! But most of those triples came in a last-ditch comeback effort during the fourth quarter, with the game already well out of reach. In Game 1, the Suns shot 9-for-28 (32.1 percent) from downtown. In Game 2, they were 8-for-26 (30.8 percent). That’s just not going to cut it, especially for a team that needed the significant advantage it’s displayed over the Lakers all year long in this category to translate to the postseason.
During the regular season, the Suns ranked seventh in 3-point percentage (37.8), 15th in 3-point attempts (34.6 per game) and 13th in 3-point makes (13.1 per game). Through these first three playoff games, those numbers have dipped to 33.7 percent on 27.7 attempts per game, resulting in only 9.3 makes per game. In fact, they’ve only made four more 3-pointers in the series than the Lakers, who were 21st in 3-point percentage (35.4 percent) during the regular season.
That trend cannot continue, and Monty Williams was aware of that heading into Game 3.
“Our shot quality’s been pretty good,” he said. “We’ve gotta have a let-it-fly mentality. They’re forcing the ball in certain areas the same way we’re doing, we’re trying to get the ball to go to certain places on the floor. Our guys have gotta shoot the ball and make plays the way they have the whole season. Typically in playoff basketball, if you’re watching any playoff game, primary and secondary actions are typically taken away; it’s the backside guys that can feast, and that’s what we told our guys: Shoot the ball, let it fly.”
Unfortunately, the Suns’ 3-point attempts are down by nearly seven per game, and the efficiency hasn’t been there either. Jae Crowder has been a disaster, going 1-for-6 from deep (2-for-8 overall) in Game 3 to make him a ruinous 2-for-20 from beyond the arc in the playoffs. But pinning it on one guy isn’t fair either.
“I mean, it’s a bunch of our guys who aren’t shooting well,” Williams said after Game 3. “Cam Johnson was 1-for-6, and we’re not getting Mikal enough shots. It’s important to space the floor for Book, Chris and DA to have those guys making shots, so we’re due. That’s the part I’m looking forward to is we’re due to have a breakout game shooting the ball.”
Getting Mikal Bridges going will be key since he’s been a virtual non-factor offensively, averaging just 7.3 points per game on 34.8 percent shooting. Even as he’s made six of his 13 triples, the Suns need more from him, and they need more from their shooters in order to properly space the floor.
LA has done an excellent job taking away clean 3-point looks, preferring to surrender post touches to Deandre Ayton while building a wall around Devin Booker. If the Suns are going to make them pay for that approach, they have to stop allowing themselves to be dribbled off the 3-point line, let ’em fly … and actually make some shots this time.