Suns look for right tweaks from opening win ahead of Lakers matchup

It was never going to be a snap of the finger after producing a new head coach here and point guards there for the Phoenix Suns. The growing pains that will be required were evident in their season-opening victory and more will be waiting for them on Friday against the Los Angeles Lakers.

Across an 11-man rotation deployed by head coach Mike Budenholzer, he created 29 different lineup combinations. A lot of the motivation behind this was surely to ignite an offense that, while it had its moments, never reached the point of flame-broiling territory for even just a few minutes. Phoenix did shoot 10-of-23 in the first half from 3, but that resulted in only 47 points and an offensive rating of 100.

A boon via sparks of success off ball movement or standard production from the stars never came. Through that rocky evening and when winning time arrived, the Suns mostly relied on targeting the Clippers’ switches to find mismatches 25 feet away from the basket. This was not a successful formula last year and the odds of it becoming one this season are low.

The unforced errors built up as more possessions went awry and the game slowed down, to the tune of 22 total on the night. Three of Kevin Durant’s seven turnovers were from stepping out of bounds. The other four were via a loose handle.

Durant is one of the greatest basketball players of all time, and within that comes a few subsequent titles. He probably has the best handles ever of any near 7-footer or actual 7-footer. But if there’s anywhere inside his game where his age is noticeable, it has been his ball-handling. Teams love even more than before to deploy smaller guards on Durant to get under him and bother his movement off the bounce. While noting two of these four clips below feature double-teams, it is effective.

Speaking with full awareness of how moronic it sounds to pigeon-hole arguably the best scorer we have ever seen in the history of basketball, the Suns could at least start by targeting more uses of Durant off the ball by finding him on the catch where it’s a quick few dribbles into the play-deciding decision. A healthy diet of it would go a long way, a diet Durant has had in the past and Phoenix has also found successful at times. Pindowns freeing him up at the elbows have been a staple, as previously have been the curls to get him there, too.

And guess what, sometimes it is still good offense to give Durant the ball and get everyone else the hell out of the way. But this was a talking point last year and it will continue to be one again going forward.

The bottom line is that a — let’s call it “ambitious” — solo performance by James Harden let the Suns back in the game late and escape with a win even though the offensive execution wasn’t taking full advantage of the second chance.

But it is not time to remotely fret about this. It’s completely normal to turn to that default offense in late October in a new system with a new lead guard. Budenholzer will review the film and point toward the possessions that worked, most of which featured either Tyus Jones or Devin Booker initiating.

The process of generating 3s was a mixed bag, an encouraging tidbit considering the potential for a higher volume. Phoenix only got up 15 after the first half. It will always be easy to create them when Booker, Durant and Bradley Beal apply pressure on the defense. There’s enough shooting on the roster to take them home from there.

3s!

Suns got up 23 3s in the first half but only 15 in the second half/OT.

Easiest formula to use is paint touches or the threat of them from the Big 3. Good Plumlee game in these short rolls. And some good Booker possessions here but would have liked more. pic.twitter.com/f7cp5vzDj9

— Kellan Olson (@KellanOlson) October 24, 2024

The bench did a great job making this happen too. Monte Morris was excellent in his minutes alongside Beal, as was Grayson Allen.

The Morris/Beal minutes were very good. Allen with either of those guys or both is going to be money. pic.twitter.com/quebOOwPYk

— Kellan Olson (@KellanOlson) October 24, 2024

Budenholzer played rookie big man Oso Ighodaro 12 minutes and used him in 11 (!) of those 29 lineup combinations, a compliment to how he wants to get Ighodaro involved. That is because of Ighodaro’s basketball IQ, the threat he provides after screening and giving the frontcourt a bit more athleticism. All of those traits flashed, and even though it was a good performance from backup 5 Mason Plumlee, expect to see more of Ighodaro on Friday.

Suns vs. Lakers preview

Talking about who the best players in the league are is often a tiring exercise. It’s not so much about who deserves to be in the conversation but who gets ranked ahead of who. To simplify it, there are only a handful of guys you watch and go, “Wait, maybe he’s the best player in the world.”

Lakers center Anthony Davis is still that good. While a 76-game campaign last year trailed five straight injury-riddled seasons, it’s easy to forget Davis is 31 years old, right in that sweet spot of when most primes are full go.

The offense for Davis is what it is at this point, pretty good when he’s over-reliant on a jumper that’s not going in or unstoppable when the jumper is going in while he’s remaining ultra-aggressive off the bounce. But his defense is still absolutely sublime, and to redefine the head honcho conversation, Davis joins Giannis Antetokounmpo and Joel Embiid as the only three players who can truly dominate a game on both ends of the floor.

Here’s hoping Anthony Edwards gets there and we see a defensive renaissance from Durant this year to add a wing and a guard to the big party.

Davis produced 36 points, 16 rebounds, four assists, three blocks and a steal in the season opener on Wednesday. Only five of his 23 field goal attempts were outside the paint. The defensive performance was also fairly ridiculous.

AD DOMINATES ON OPENING NIGHT 😤

36 PTS
16 REB
4 AST
3 BLK
Lakers W pic.twitter.com/A2YaloISYd

— NBA (@NBA) October 23, 2024

Jusuf Nurkic draws the assignment, one that you’d maybe be surprised to hear he does OK with. Davis in five games against Nurkic last year averaged 22 points on 49.4% shooting, downticks from his season averages. Nurkic is a solid 1-on-1 defender against bigs, and with Davis, he does a good job of using his upper body to make Davis finish through contact.

The majority of Davis’ misses against Phoenix are jumpers when Nurkic is comically sagging off him (more on that in a minute) but this is good work here too to get in position (with help from teammates).

He’s not the most agile center, but Nurkic’s ability to move his feet is underrated given the slow-footed label he carries.

Nurkic has quietly become one of my favorite Suns ever in the wild card category of unique things they do on the floor, otherwise known as the Chris Paul All-Stars. One of Nurkic’s quirks is that when he is defending someone who has a bad jumper — he not only refuses to close out but also turns around in the most casual manner possible as the player is getting ready to shoot.

He does this to Davis quite a bit, and for the disrespect gamesmanship Nurkic is looking for, this was the best possible outcome back when he played in Portland.

NURK TURNED AROUND BEFORE THE SHOT WENT UP.

AND IT WENT OFF THE SIDE OF THE BACKBOARD. pic.twitter.com/iJfw8PfBVv

— Nekias (Nuh-KY-us) Duncan (@NekiasNBA) October 23, 2022

New Lakers coach JJ Redick said he wanted to utilize Davis in new ways and he accomplished that on Wednesday. We’ve been talking about the Suns using guards as screeners more for Durant and this is a similar thought here.

The Lakers go back to the inverted PnR bag with Anthony Davis.

He goes a little quicker this time, draws the foul. pic.twitter.com/0jZhpyy9ic

— Nekias (Nuh-KY-us) Duncan (@NekiasNBA) October 23, 2024

It was an impressive win for the Lakers over the Timberwolves. Los Angeles looked prepared and well-coached.

Redick said after the game there were specific gameplan mechanics implemented just for Minnesota and praised the execution of them. While they only produced 22 assists, that was weighed down by a 5-for-30 3-point shooting night on mostly shots the Lakers want.

And in the math department, L.A. attempted 10 more shots thanks to only seven turnovers and 15 offensive rebounds. Expect Redick to have his guys crashing to punish Phoenix’s lack of size. The Clippers did the same with a far smaller team and still grabbed 13 and attempted 14 more shots than the Suns.

Follow @KellanOlson