3 tweaks the Phoenix Suns will make for the playoffs
By Luke Duffy
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1. Four guard lineups
This is going to be huge for the Suns, and it is going to have a twofold positive impact. For all of Nurkic's abilities - and we've just spoken about how important he could be offensively - he is still a limited player who can and will be exposed in the playoffs. Already this season we have seen this, with Nurkic sitting for entire fourth-quarters on multiple occasions.
What this has meant is that Durant has come in as the team's center - and although the Suns won't want him banging away with other bigs game after game - positioning him there gives opponents a tough choice to make. Camp in the paint and watch Durant destroy them from outside, or else follow him into deep waters and leave the paint exposed for other Suns to attack.
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Coach Vogel is sure to combine this use of Durant with four guards from time-to-time, and the results could be glorious. Booker and Beal have enough playmaking, shooting and passing to make it difficult for anybody, while both Allen and O'Neale are able to defend bigger players than themselves for stretches of a game.
Allen in particular is an underrated defender, and leads the league in 3-point shooting at 47 percent. O'Neale is currently shooting 39.2 percent from deep - and combined with Booker, Beal and Durant - could blow teams away with their scoring bursts. Eric Gordon could also fill in for O'Neale as well, with these lineups similar to the small-ball groups the Golden State Warriors won championships with.