Suns’ turnover problems reaching critical mass ...Middle East

PHOENIX — For those that have watched the Phoenix Suns all year, the numbers will surprise you.

Phoenix is 17th in turnover percentage and 15th in opposing points off turnovers per game, perfectly mediocre. But this is a case where the numbers fail to tell the whole story, as the Suns have been one of the worst teams in the league with turnovers. More specifically, the timing of when these giveaways occur and how they happen has continuously lost them games.

The other side of the coin has been more consistently damaging.

The Suns do not force turnovers. They are 28th in opposing turnover percentage, and in turn, 27th in points off turnovers per game.

“I think at some point, your activity is gonna be reflected in how many turnovers you’re creating,” Suns head coach Mike Budenholzer said, agreeing this was a big point of emphasis where the Suns have to improve.

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The numbers since the All-Star break are more forthcoming with the Suns’ own blunders, and thus, is giving them a nearly impossible gap to make up for.

Across seven games, Phoenix is allowing 22.9 points off turnovers per game, according to NBA Stats. That is last in the league, as is their own minuscule 9.9 points off turnovers per game.

Sunday’s loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves was an encapsulation of how difficult this can be to make up for.

In the second half, the Timberwolves scored 27 points off the Suns’ 14 turnovers while Phoenix generated three points off Minnesota’s three giveaways. The Suns shot a better percentage in the second half, 47.4% to 45.8%, and were outscored by 20. They shot 15% better in the final frame, 61.1% to 46.2%, and lost 33-26.

“That’s the game,” Suns forward Kevin Durant said of the 40 total points off turnovers for Minnesota.

The Suns were handling the physicality of the game fairly well in the first half. But once again, there was no consistency with that and they quickly crumbled in the second half.

“They picked up the physicality and we didn’t respond well to it,” Suns guard Devin Booker said.

As usual, the majority of Phoenix’s miscues are of the live-ball fashion, so it is essentially two free points at the rim or a wide-open 3 for the opponent. Even if the Suns were not a horrific team defending in transition (which they are), it wouldn’t make up for too much in that department, but there are at least a few runouts for the opposition each night that could face more resistance (and do not).

Booker, Durant and Bradley each Beal have consistent themes in their turnovers. They each had at least four on Sunday and combined for 14.

Booker’s spectrum for how good or bad he can be as a playmaker this year is immense. He’s had a handful of masterful games as Point Book slicing and dicing the defensive rotations, looking a full two steps ahead.

Then there are times when he is clearly thrown off by something, whether it is the coverage he is setting, the rhythm of the four other guys is bad or a mix of both. Whatever it is, it’s unacceptable.

“I think a big part of it is our spacing out of it and being organized and five guys being on the same page instead of two or three, or even four doesn’t cut it,” Booker said of the turnovers as a whole.

Durant’s are largely involving the attempts to get him the ball out of the mid-post, the overwhelmingly preferred method to get him the ball. This first one below goes to Booker and it could have been a better pass, but there is a high level of awareness from opponents who know how to deny the entry feed by getting through Durant.

From there, Durant has a penchant for the type of passes that look pre-anticipatory, to the point where defenders can take advantage of that. Again, teams come to Phoenix and know where they will make their money. Durant is an extremely intelligent basketball player, so like Booker’s playmaking woes, it’s just bizarre.

Beal’s stem from getting stripped inside. When resistance comes in the lane on his drives, active hands will often jar loose the ball once Beal enters the paint. He and Booker are also prone to the mind-boggling pass right to a guy as well.

The Suns were last in defensive rating across February, so the only way they are winning games right now is by being elite offensively. That is not possible, even with terrific shooting efficiency, if the turnovers persist.

A good indicator of if the Suns are reaching elite status offensively is how the trio’s combined assist-to-turnover ratio looks. With Beal sidelined in Friday’s win, it was 15 assists to just three turnovers for Booker and Durant. While the three totaled 11 turnovers in Memphis, the assists number was 28. On Sunday it was just 12 assists to 14 turnovers.

How the trio takes care of the ball over the remaining 21 games will determine how ugly this gets.

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