Last night, the Phoenix Suns made 20-plus 3-pointers for the first time all season, connecting on 22 triples in a 128-115 win over the Atlanta Hawks.
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!They also had a season-high 41 3-point attempts against Atlanta, meaning they shot an incredible 54% from beyond the arc. In comparison, the Hawks went 12-for-35 (34%) from deep.
This was the 16th time in franchise history the Suns (41-29) made 20 or more 3-pointers. They are 15-1 in these contests.
The hot shooting came only one night after they tied their season high with 19 3-pointers (on 39 attempts) against the 76ers in a 115-102 win Wednesday. The Suns were only averaging 12 3-point makes per game before these last two contests, which ranked 21st in the NBA (now at 12.2).
Phoenix is shooting a very good 48.7% from 3 over the last three games and averaging 18.3 makes. This comes after a four-game stretch in which the Suns shot 32.6% from deep and averaged 10.8 makes.
So what is working for Phoenix in terms of getting up and making 3-pointers?
“Trusting the pass,” coach Frank Vogel said last night. “We keep talking to our guys that we got to be a team-first team to reach our potential and bring two to the ball, while being 3-point line aggressive. We want to get up a high volume of threes; we’ve had several games the last couple of weeks where we got outscored at the 3-point line by 30 points. Tonight, we outscored our opponent by 30 points. We made 10 more 3s than our opponent, so we got to keep our guys playing for one another and letting the pass connect us. We just got to do it with a few less turnovers.”
"Probably our best bench performance of the season … can't tip my hat to those guys enough. They get the game ball collectively."#Suns coach Frank Vogel recaps Phoenix's 128-115 win over the #Hawks, in which the bench scored 47 points led by Eric Gordon (21 points, 8-11 FG)… pic.twitter.com/j2MYqF8TRs
— Burn City Sports (@BurnCitySports) March 22, 2024
The Suns had 28 assists against the Hawks and 34 assists against the 76ers. Phoenix has now had more than its season average of 26.8 assists in each of the last five games. It is 16-2 when recording 31 or more assists.
Devin Booker tied his season-high with six 3-pointers on only eight attempts for the 26th (!) time against Atlanta, leading to a game-high 30 points.
“Overall, especially these last two games, the ball has been hopping,” Booker said postgame. “It’s just been great energy. The more passes, the more swings that we get. The better energy, the better shots we get.”
"Overall, especially these last two games, the ball has been hopping. It's just been great energy."
Devin Booker reacts to the #Suns 128-115 win over #Hawks after dropping 30 points and tying his career high (for the 26th time!) with six 3-pointers. Phoenix, as a team, connected… pic.twitter.com/Wb0NPr3raU
— Burn City Sports (@BurnCitySports) March 22, 2024
Against the 76ers, Grayson Allen, who leads the NBA in 3-point percentage at 48.2%, tied his career high and Suns franchise record with nine 3-pointers for the third time.
“There are certain teams that have a game plan where they try to get into a full rotation and that is tough to do when we have four really good shooters out there,” Allen said Wednesday. “When the ball gets swung around, it is going to end up in somebody’s hands, and tonight it was mine. Other times, I just try to space out sometimes to 30 or 35 feet just to see how far the man will come out and see how much space they will give the guy with the ball, whether it is Book (Devin Booker), Kev (Kevin Durant), or Brad (Bradley Beal). If he tries to shift at the last second, it is an even longer close out, so a little game within the game being played there.”
"I cannot give enough credit to Kev always having his head up when he is getting doubled in the post, Brad always has his head up to find me, Book when he is operating the pick-and-roll. So, I have to give a lot of thanks to those guys for continuing to find me and trusting the… pic.twitter.com/PryhIU8zyw
— Burn City Sports (@BurnCitySports) March 21, 2024
The Suns have been getting contributions from a lot more than just Booker and Allen from deep. Last night, Eric Gordon and Royce O’Neale each went 4-of-6 from 3 off the bench. The Suns bench, in total, contributed 47 points, as Vogel said it “was probably our best bench performance of the season.”
Phoenix has an offensive rating (points per 100 possessions) of 124 over these last two games, nearly seven more than their season average.
The 76ers (Joel Embiid) and Hawks (Trae Young) were both without their best players, but there is definitely some momentum the Suns, who currently sit in a play-in spot as the seventh seed in the Western Conference, can ride offensively for the remaining 13 games.
With a healthy Big 3 and rest of the team as well, this is one area the Suns should be able to dominate every game because of the gravity of Booker, Durant and Beal.
Frank Vogel applauds Bradley Beal ‘sacrificing for the betterment of this team’
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Brendan Mau is a senior writer covering the Phoenix Suns and more for Burn City Sports. You can follow him on X via @Brendan_Mau
