Phoenix Suns: 3 Things Responsible for Nine Game Win Streak

After enduring a soul-crushing loss to the Sacramento Kings four weeks ago, somebody broke into every office at the Phoenix Suns practice facility, found all the dictionaries, and ripped out every page with the word “lose” written on it.

Since then, the Suns have forgotten the term entirely, only knowing one way to end their games: with a dub.

Having now won nine straight contests, Phoenix resembles the league’s most dangerous team, with exception only to the Golden State Warriors, who just bullied the title-favorited Brooklyn Nets.

On their home floor, Phoenix rolled the Cleveland Cavaliers, New Orleans Pelicans, Houston Rockets, and Atlanta Hawks to begin November. After that, they laid siege on Sacramento, and took their revenge against the Kings. The Suns then returned home to take down the Portland Trail Blazers before hitting the road once more, where they slayed the Memphis Grizzlies, Houston Rockets again, and the Minnesota Timberwolves.

This uptick for Phoenix even rivals their legendary stretch within the NBA’s “bubble” restart, where they won eight straight games under Monty Williams. With that excitement and the team’s returning poise from last year meshing together, the Suns look primed for yet another successful season.

But this turnaround did not just come from nowhere. After stumbling into a 1-3 start, capsulated by the loss against Sacramento, the Suns looked themselves in the mirror, and noticed their flaws which needed fixing.

To illustrate how they flipped themselves from a group which still looked hungover from the year prior into a true title threat, look no further than these three factors.

The Phoenix Suns are getting far more steals than they used to

Across their first four games, the Suns often looked like lost dogs at the defensive end. They seemed to bring the effort, but miscommunications and inconsistent focus allowed their opponents to drown them out on the scoreboard.

Adding to this, the Suns never put much pressure on opposing ball handlers. Prior to their win streak, they only averaged 7.3 steals per game, the eighth lowest mark across the entire league. With a crafty veteran like Chris Paul defending the point, and the renowned Mikal Bridges along the wing, the Suns needed to do better.

Thankfully, they bounced back. During this win streak, the Suns find themselves averaging 10.7 steals per game, the league’s second highest mark over that time period.

Thus far, Paul strikes as the largest contributor to this team’s upswing in that department. During this streak, he tallied five or more steals in three games. Two games ago against the Rockets, he even finished with seven steals, his most since the 2017-18 season.

Even as a big, Frank Kaminsky also notched a career-high four steals against the Pelicans. Devin Booker, who many view strictly as an offensive option, also has two steals in five of his last seven games.

From top to bottom, the Suns seem more focused than ever on swiping the ball away from their opponents. That naturally leads to more offensive possessions, and more wins.

The Phoenix Suns are killing it on the fast break

Opponent turnovers catalyze transition opportunities better than anything. So as Phoenix’s steal totals rise, so does their fast break scoring.

Before this run, the Suns only averaged 9.5 fast break points per game—a bottom five tally. But now, they average 13.3 per game, which clocks in as the league’s second highest amount over the contested time period.

Having shown fantastic development as a cutter this year, Mikal Bridges deserves some flowers with regard to this. He leads the team with transition points, running hard and almost always finding the right spots to occupy.

Last year, the Suns operated as a methodical group, mainly focusing their offensive attacks within a half-court setting. But this shows growth within the team between seasons. With Booker and Paul running the pick and roll, they still wield the ability to slow things down and pick apart defenses, while still able to run and gun to score points via the break.

The Phoenix Suns have locked down defensively around the perimeter

With 3-pointer’s popularity today, the teams that mount strong defenses along the arc typically achieve the most success. To start the season, the Suns struggled to do exactly that, largely contributing to their unattractive record.

Through their first four contests, the Suns allowed their opponents to shoot 42.2 percent from outside, the highest in the entire league. In fact, it was a 3-pointer that sunk the Suns during their aforementioned game vs Kings, which Harrison Barnes splashed through the net at the buzzer.

Thankfully, the Suns patched up this flaw immediately after that loss, making for a dramatic flip on the stat sheet. During this streak, the Phoenix allowed their opponents to shoot just 30.5 percent from deep, the second lowest in that time.

Phoenix’s signature performance in doing this came against Damian Lillard and the Portland Trail Blazers. Entering that game, the Blazers were shooting 35.8 percent from deep—a top ten mark. But the Suns blanketed their marksmen en route to a victory, holding them to just 23.3 percent from outside.

Phoenix also showed no signs of slowing down their perimeter defense during their past three contests. Although the Rockets, Grizzlies, and Timberwolves lack the same 3-point shooting prowess as the Blazers, the Suns still held them all to under 30.0 percent—an impressive accomplishment nonetheless.