The Suns entered Game 1 of their series with the Nuggets with the best offensive efficiency of any team in the first round of the playoffs. They left Game 1 with a resounding 125–107 loss and their worst offensive performance of the postseason so far. Denver, not exactly known for its defensive prowess, was able to limit the output of a team featuring three generational offensive talents. The Suns helped their opponent’s cause, though, because for some reason, a team stacked with great shooters isn’t shooting any threes.
Okay, Phoenix is shooting some threes. But not enough! Through seven playoff games, the Suns are averaging an early 2000s-esque 23.5 threes a night. That would be the fewest threes launched per game during the postseason for a team since ’19. The team with the second-fewest attempts is the Knicks, and they are taking seven more a game. Meanwhile, Kevin Durant is shooting 4.5 threes a night. Of all players who have played at least two postseason games, Durant is ranked 56th in three-point attempts. Devin Booker hasn’t been letting it fly much more often, coming in at 5.2 attempts from deep per game, or 45th among the playoff field. Just for fun, here is a partial list of players shooting (or who shot more) more threes than Durant and Booker a game: John Collins, Royce O’Neale, Russell Westbrook, Derrick White, Gabe Vincent, Marcus Smart and Austin Reaves.
In the first round, this strategy made sense for the Suns. The Clippers played a fairly conservative drop coverage for the majority of the series, inviting a lot of pull-up, midrange twos. That is the bread and butter for Durant, Booker and Chris Paul. All three of them have made a very comfortable living on that exact shot, and they eliminated the Clippers by hitting an astronomical rate of their midrange jumpers.
