Phoenix Suns Superlative Stat 6: Number of Dribbles before a Shot
Considering the Phoenix Suns led the team in assists, this next stat makes sense. The Suns led the league in shot attempts that came off zero dribbles. With an average of 45 shots per game without the player putting the ball on the floor, the Suns had more shots off passes than anyone else.
In fact, an uncanny 51.4 percent of their total field goals for the entire season came off no dribbles, making them the only team in the league where this was true for over half of their shots.
The only problem was that they didn’t make a terribly high percentage of these shots compared to the rest of the league. They finished 20th in field goal percentage when shooting off zero dribbles at 46.8 percent.
Conversely, their affinity for ball movement led to a league-worst when it came to isolation play. The Phoenix Suns were dead last in 3-pointers made after at least seven dribbles (0.2 per game). Moreover, they had the next-to-worst overall effective field goal percentage (41.9 percent) when the player dribbled at least seven times.
Essentially, the team relied much more on ball movement than the Harden/Luka/Lillard play of dribbling at the top of the key for ten seconds and then launching a 35-footer.