Why they are winning: The Phoenix Suns are a good 3-point shooting team again
By Adam Maynes
Who has got their 3-point shot going
Take Devin Booker, for instance. A career 35.4% 3-point shooter in his first four seasons in the league, last season he shot a miserable career-low, 32.6%.
So far this season he is shooting 51.0%.
It’s not like he hasn’t been shooting much from the outside either. Granted, he is shooting at a lesser pace than he has for the last three seasons (4.9 attempts per game versus the 6.1 he averaged in his previous three seasons), but 49 total attempts is still a good number from which to judge that he is shooting exceptionally well thus far.
The team’s eight-point loss to the Lakers marked the first time this season that he did not make a 3, although he too strangely enough did not even attempt his two until late in the fourth quarter.
Aron Baynes did not even add a 3-point shot to his offensive arsenal until last season, when he only attempted 61.
But now: he is shooting an astounding 50.0% and made his career-high 22nd against the Lakers as well.
Ricky Rubio is a career 32.2% 3-point shooter, and last season fired the fourth-worst outside percentage in his career at 31.1%.
After not making a single 3 in his first three games this season (finishing 0-4 in that stretch), Rubio has made at least one three in his previous six games, making them at a 40.0% clip on the year, and 46.2% clip in this recent stretch.
Cameron Johnson is shooting at his expected 40.0%; Tyler Johnson is shooting at a career-high rate 39.4% (although he has been a solid outside shooter for the majority of his career); Dario Saric is shooting right at his career-average of 37.8%; and Kelly Oubre has ticked up his shooting percentage to a very acceptable 35.1%, what would be a career-high for a career 32.1% 3-point shooter prior to this year.
What is so amazing about how good this team is shooting from the outside overall, is that they are not getting similar production from two key players who’s shooting percentages were expected to be much higher than they are at right now.