The Phoenix Suns ran into a crucial stretch of games immediately out of the All-Star break gates this year. With Chris Paul unable to play at all due to his wrist avulsion, while Devin Booker and Cameron Payne both missed time with injuries as well, they got hit with a boulder of adversity to immediately begin their 2021-22 season’s second half.
However, they handled it just like they have with everything else this year: with great care and poise.
Going 5-3 over the eight-game stretch, Phoenix doubled up their confidence. They licked their wounds and kept moving, giving opposing teams in the Western Conference little-to-no hope of catching them in the standings.
Even with that much scoring and playmaking sitting on the sideline in Paul, Booker, and Payne, the Suns offense made all the major adjustments required to ensure that their team stayed competitive.
With their maintained 8.5 game lead over second place Memphis Grizzlies, and being on pace for the best record in franchise history, the Suns showed that their depth is just as much a reason to fear them as their backcourt.
The stellar play of Mikal Bridges, Cameron Johnson and Deandre Ayton all came together as one major factor in keeping the Suns afloat following the All-Star break, but it would be unfair not to recognize the contributions from some of the team’s glue guys as well.
These three role players stand out amongst the rest as Phoenix’s unsung heroes in getting the team across this bumpy part of the road.
Phoenix Suns Unsung Heroes Post All-Star Break: Aaron Holiday
The Suns brought the youngest Holiday brother over from the Washington Wizards in a trade at the deadline. His former team only got back cash considerations and a trade exception in the deal. Clearly, Suns fans feel happy with their end of this exchange.
But Holiday also came to the Suns at the perfect time. His arrival has softened the blow of Chris Paul’s injury. Holiday’s efficiency remains impressive for a guy still getting accustomed to a new system as well.
Since coming over to the Suns, Holiday finds himself averaging 17.8 minutes per game with a 54.8 effective field goal percent. He hit the ground running, and already proved himself to be a much better fit for the Suns than their original third-string point guard in Elfird Payton.
The signing of Payton has not panned out the way Phoenix hopefuls were wishing it to, as Payton recently fell out of the rotation. Naturally, this decision from Monty Williams to replace Payton minutes with Holiday minutes has been vital to Phoenix’s success over these last eight games.
Payton’s abysmal 25.0 percent shooting from deep represents the main reason for his minimal playing time, and Holiday’s aforementioned numbers dwarf these figures from Payton.
Holiday’s defense deserves praise as well. If you disagree, just ask his NBA champion brother, Jrue. Aaron took him as an assignment multiple in the team’s March 6th loss to the Milwaukee Bucks, and proved himself just as tough as his older brother.
Phoenix Suns Unsung Heroes Post All-Star Break: Landry Shamet
The Phoenix Suns also traded for Landry Shamet, but long before Holiday, agreeing to an exchange with the Brooklyn Nets this past offseason after handing over the No. 29 overall pick and Jevon Carter. This deal meant parting with one of the better perimeter defenders on the team to acquire a player with a reputation for struggling on that end of the floor.
Needless to say, Suns fans had every reason to worry that they had just given up a fan favorite, scrappy junkyard dog, to acquire a somewhat unknown commodity. This line of thinking was supported earlier this year, as Shamet struggled for some time.
After also inking a 4-year, $43 million contract extension with the Suns after that trade, added pressure fell onto Shamet which only made his struggles that much more glaring. His sharpshooting skills seemed to fall off, as he shot 35.3 percent from deep going into the All-Star break.
At that point, the Shamet deal looked like one with the potential to go down as the worst decision thus far in James Jones’s tenure as general manager.
But then, the injuries to Paul and Booker took Shamet from someone struggling to find his place amongst the bench unit, to someone playing alongside the available starters. After surrounding him with more talented players, the Suns are watching his efficiency skyrocket.
Once the calendar turned over to March, Shamet’s playing time jumped by +9.3 minutes per game. This leap in minutes has coincided with some raised shooting numbers, with Shamet shooting it at a 46.9 percent clip from beyond the arc during his past five games.
This renaissance for Shamet means increased confidence for him going forward, and more importantly, the idea that Williams now understands how Sham-wow is best used as a shooter/scorer playing off star guys, rather than a strict backup option.
Phoenix Suns Unsung Heroes Post All-Star Break: Jae Crowder
Star power serves as the foundation for most championship teams, so when the Suns went to the NBA Finals last year, it should have surprised no one that the dominating narrative was Chris Paul shepherding this group of talented, but unproven studs to the promised land.
But Phoenix fans know that Paul is not the only presence on the floor that brings a calming and rugged professionalism to this team.
Having an all-time great floor general is a luxury, but a team also needs role players, guys that can accept their lesser role when playing with stars and step up their level when said stars are unavailable.
Jae Crowder represents the ultimate glue guy for the Suns. When starting next to the fully healthy Phoenix roster, he provides clutch shooting, tough defense, and high level basketball IQ. But over this Chris Paul-less stretch of games, he upped his game beyond those areas, providing his team with some much needed playmaking.
Over the past eight contests, Crowder averaged 3.0 assists per game—almost double his season average of 1.4 per game. He understands the assignment. With no CP3, the team needs other players to help set up other guys, and Crowder clearly accepted that responsibility.
Crowder’s 3-point shot shot has been inconsistent over the past eight games, but with that, he has only further illustrated how versatile he is with his abilities to help out this team. Although Crowder shot 4-8 against both the Milwaukee Bucks and the Utah Jazz, he put up a 1-10 performance on March 8th against the Orlando Magic. He also followed that up with a 1-7 performance against the Miami Heat.
With his long range shots not falling like they normally do, Crowder made a conscious effort to find other ways to help out offensively. He still finds himself averaging 13.9 points per contest over the past eight games—more than three points higher than his regular season figure.
Even with his up and down shooting, Crowder knows how to increase his offensive output. In my estimation, his new floater has been key in this. But regardless, the points are there, as are the assists—as Crowder just keeps finding ways to patch up holes for this wounded team.