3 Phoenix Suns Players Who could Still Heat Up in the Playoffs

Phoenix Suns Players to Heat Up in Playoffs: Jae Crowder

Being a starter on the NBA’s winningest team this year, perhaps nobody in the league had a better hidden poor regular season than swingman Jae Crowder.

While his team boasted top-five offensive rating and overall scoring numbers this year, Crowder failed to average double-digit scoring figures for the first time since the 2017-18 season, even despite playing an increased amount of minutes.

But being a shooter, his efficiency numbers strike as the most troubling. Hitting this year from the field at a 39.9 percent clip, he put up the third worst field goal percentage of his career. He also experienced a 4.1 percent decrease in his 3-point shooting percentage between this year and the last, even despite averaging less attempts.

But also being a shooter, all it takes are a few red hot games to turn things around. Landry Shamet best illustrated this in March, as he seemingly turned his season around in a flash.

With the Suns set to play either the New Orleans Pelicans or the Los Angeles Clippers in the first round, Crowder has a chance to flip this switch early. So far this season, Crowder finds himself shooting 54.8 percent from the field and 45.0 percent on triples between those two teams.

Both those numbers resemble double-digit percent increases from Crowder’s regular season marks. He clearly enjoys playing against the Pelicans and Clippers, and once he gets the ball rolling against whichever one emerges from the Play-In, additional opponents will have to run for cover.