The Phoenix Suns have prided themselves on being a much improved defensive team this season, with owner Mat Ishbia's vision for this franchise somehow coming true. The team are a tough out each night and have players such as Dillon Brooks and even Collin GIllespie who treat every possession like a Game 7.
Suns quietly excelling on offensive end of court.
What most did not see coming however is the fact that the Suns have also quickly established an offensive game plan under head coach Jordan Ott that is currently working wonders. Any time you have Devin Booker you have a chance to be special, only that wasn't the case when Kevin Durant and Bradley Beal were in town.
Lineups with Collin Gillespie on the floor without Devin Booker have played almost 300 minutes this season.
— Shane Young (@YoungNBA) November 19, 2025
The Suns have a 125.3 offensive rating during that time, which would rank in the 95th percentile. That’s a massive win for Phoenix.
So this feels like addition by subtraction, because some of the basketball they have played and the numbers that have followed paint a very encouraging picture for the future. Beginning with the facts and the Suns are scoring 117.5 points per game, good for the eighth best mark in the league. If you go back through their last six games, they're fourth (123.3).
The team are 5-1 during that stretch, while defensively they also sit fourth having given up 108 points each night. That's a massive margin of victory each night, with the lone loss coming against the Atlanta Hawks when they somehow let a 22 point lead slip. Those are going to happen from time to time, but it is the fact they didn't allow it to knock their confidence that was brilliant to see.
Anybody who watches this roster knows they take a ton of 3-pointers, and that too has been integral to their success. Coach Ott wanting them to be active defensively, then push the pace and take the open and correct shot on the other end. When you have Grayson Allen and Royce O'Neale around Booker, then you take 40.7 attempts each night, the eighth most in the NBA.
If that game plan sounds overly simple, that is because it is. Rather than try and find ways to feature Durant and Beal - while also including Booker - as was the case in the past, coach Ott is letting the team run and have the ball find the open man. They just happen to have the personnel who can take advantage of this style of play.
Making 38 percent of those efforts from deep puts them sixth in the league, another elite mark for a team that was supposed to be anything but. So while defending is what coach Ott wants the Suns to do at an elite level each night, they have put together a simple and effective game plan to make the most of the players in The Valley. In other words, they've cracked the code.