Phoenix Suns Keys to Victory vs Trail Blazers: Limit 3-Pointers
Allowing shots to rain fire from outside has been a long standing bugaboo for the Suns so far this season. They currently give up 14.3 triples to their opponents per game, the third most by any team. Phoenix’s opponents also shoot 38.7 percent on those attempts, the second highest mark across the league.
Against any team, you cannot surrender those numbers if you want to win. But against the Trail Blazers, this holds true to an even greater extent.
As it stands now, the Blazers get 40.3 percent of their scoring from the 3-point shot, the third most by any team. Coinciding with that, Portland also averages the second most 3-pointers made with 14.8 per game, shooting them at a top ten percentage as well.
With the Suns clearly struggling to defend the three, and the Trail Blazers making it their “bread and butter,” Phoenix needs to roll up their sleeves and look to close this gap by getting into each shooter’s grill tonight.
That starts with the team’s best wing stopper in Bridges, but he cannot carry the defense all by himself. Guards Booker and Paul need to step up and close off shot attempts from outside, while also limiting penetration for drive and kick actions.
As the more versatile team, the Suns only need to partially derail this portion of Portland’s offense to win. The long range shot is the supporting wall for this team, and if it begins to crack, then Phoenix’s superiority across other aspects of the game will be enough to bring the house down.