Whether it’s a 3-pointer from the corner or one from the wing, the Phoenix Suns have not discriminated in their shooting from long distance while winning six of their last seven games.
The Suns will look to continue their good fortune when they return home to face the struggling Indiana Pacers in a quick turnaround on Thursday night.
Phoenix made 14 shots from 3-point range in a 123-114 victory at Dallas on Wednesday and is averaging 16.3 3-pointers per game, among the league leaders.
The Pacers enter Thursday’s game on their second five-game losing streak after a pair of blowouts — a 152-128 loss at Utah on Tuesday and a 31-point loss at Golden State on Sunday.
The Suns’ numbers do not surprise first-year coach Jordan Ott, whose free-flowing style has been embraced.
“The roster is filled with shooting,” Ott said. “We just have to create enough paint pressure and then move (the ball). And when your best player moves it like he does …”
Ott, of course, was referring to Devin Booker, who is averaging 28.2 points and 7.0 assists per game.
“It’s just spacing,” Booker said. “It’s constant movement. There’s different points of attack. It’s hard to defend the controlled chaos and what looks like freelance out there.”
The Suns, who have won four games in a row, have made 19 3-pointers in three of their last six games, a stretch highlighted by Grayson Allen’s career-high and franchise-record 10 in a 121-98 victory over New Orleans on Monday.
Allen, who has played both off guard and small forward this season, had four 3-pointers against Dallas and leads the NBA with 50 while shooting 44.6% from long distance.
“We’re trying to get him to shoot more,” Ott said. “His career numbers, (he) always shoots at a high clip.”
Allen’s play has helped mitigate the loss of guard Jalen Green, who was diagnosed with a right hamstring strain Wednesday and will miss at least a month. He will be re-evaluated in four to six weeks, the team said.
Indiana gave up a season-high point total to the Jazz following a 114-83 loss to the Warriors.
“We’ve been around 15 or 16 in defense (ranking) all year, even through the struggles and the personnel challenges,” Pacers coach Rick Carlisle said, “and we let go of the rope tonight. We let go of the rope in the fourth quarter in Golden State, and we let go of the rope tonight. That’s concerning.”
The Pacers lost their first five games before recording their only victory was 114-109 at home over the Warriors on Nov. 1.
Pascal Siakam has bumped his scoring average to 24.6 points per game, on pace for a career high, but the Pacers are shooting a league-low 40.2% from the field.
They are shooting 29.6% from long distance, the second-lowest percentage, while playing without injured guards Tyrese Haliburton (Achilles) and Bennedict Mathurin (big toe).
Pacers guard T.J. McConnell had 12 points and one assist in 11 minutes in his first game of the season at Utah, adding necessary backcourt depth.
McConnell, who missed the first 10 games with a hamstring injury, did not play in the second half by design.
“It’s a very encouraging start for him,” Carlisle said. “We’ll build it up from here. This is going to take time. Just getting a guy like that back, it should be an uplifting thing.”
–Field Level Media
