Suns have clear and obvious way to win more games

The Phoenix Suns have been one of the better teams in the Western Conference to start the new NBA season, although not everybody is convinced by their start. They can only play the teams in front of them though - and most encouragingly of all - they look competitive no matter who the opponent that they're facing is.

Increasing free throw attempts will lead to more victories for Suns.

But if they could just draw some more fouls on a nightly basis, they would surely pull out some of the closer contests they have been involved in. Consider their most recent defeat, a two point loss to the Atlanta Hawks despite being up by 22 at one point in the game. Although they only shot five free throws less than the Hawks - 19 to their 24 - they converted 95 percent of them.

Compare that to Atlanta, who managed 83 percent. A small margin you might think, but the Suns did only lose the game by two points. The team are also converting on 81.7 percent of their attempts, which is good for 10th in the league. Which gets to the real issue here, which is that the Suns are taking just over 22 shots from the charity stripe per game.

Only four teams are getting to the line less, despite the Suns having plenty of players who are capable of drawing contact and being physical inside. Names like Mark Williams, Oso Ighodaro and Dillon Brooks shouldn't surprise, but it is actually Booker who is leading the way in this area. His 7.6 attempts each night a career high.

It is fair to say that Booker does get a superstar whistle sometimes, but he's also aggressive in the midrange and will get into the paint when required. The fact Brooks sits second in attempts (4.1), is unacceptable, with Williams (3.1) behind that. Grayson Allen (2.6) and Jalen Green (2.5) round out the top five, with Green having only played just over one game with a hamstring issue.

Green's eventual return should help open up the court to create more driving lanes, but really this is on the bigs to do a better job of creating contact. It is tough to expect fringe role players such as Isaiah Livers to contribute even more than they currently are - he is surpassing expectations and keeps getting more minutes - but he can bring more than 0.4 attempts each game.

If everybody could get to the free throw line just once more per game, it would give head coach Jordan Ott another valuable way to win games. If nothing else, it would also diversify their offensive game plan which is currently excelling because of the brilliance of Booker and some excellent 3-point shooting. An easy fix.