EMPIRE OF THE SUNS

Is the Pelicans’ Game 1 rebound advantage a concern for Suns?

Apr 17, 2022, 10:40 PM | Updated: 11:36 pm

PHOENIX — It does not feel after Game 1 of a first-round opener that the Phoenix Suns won’t beat the New Orleans Pelicans.

It does not feel like this is not the team that earned the top seed in the NBA.

Behind an explosion of a fourth quarter from Chris Paul that landed him 30 points by the end of the game, Phoenix won comfortably, 110-99 on Sunday at Footprint Center.

Anytime a team can hold an opponent to 38% shooting for a game, a lot is going right.

But considering the Suns did not leave many misses to be rebounded by the Pelicans, hitting 54% of their attempts, and considering the Pelicans couldn’t buy a bucket, it might be concerning that it was New Orleans ending up plus-20 on the offensive glass.

It ended with the Pelicans taking 17 more shot attempts.

“That allows for them to have so many more extra possessions,” Suns head coach Monty Williams said. “That can tire you out. We hadn’t played in over a week. I thought there was some rust on our side, execution of some offensive sets. … I told our guys, to be able to persevere under those circumstances, playoff game, win the game, you’ll take it every time.”

Still, does it concern the Suns that their opponent may have missed a litany of point-blank paint shots — many off those offensive rebounds? Maybe it was a sign of tired legs from a team that’s played three games in three cities over a five-day span.

New Orleans scored 29 second-chance points to Phoenix’s seven, yet went an abysmal 11-of-23 after recovering its own misses.

“I’m not sure what we shot from the paint but it was pretty poor. I think that was self-inflicted,” Pelicans center Larry Nance Jr. said. “We rushed our shots a little bit … but it’s something we corrected and came out the second half. We scored 65 in the second half. We found a way to play.”

Looking beyond this series from the Suns’ view, does it highlight an issue that, on the margins, could become a problem at some point in these playoffs?

Phoenix did enter the postseason with offensive board allowance among the team’s (small) weaknesses.

It was a bigger problem Sunday night than the final score indicated. The Suns won the paint points, 50-38, with the Pelicans’ own interior defense more wide open than any swinging saloon door from any old Western movie of your choosing.

New Orleans, though, shot 19-of-56 (33%) in the paint, with center Jonas Valanciunas going 7-of-21. That line somewhat negated his 25 total rebounds, 13 of which were offensive.

That production wasn’t all on Phoenix center Deandre Ayton, who by and large had his own — albeit different — ways of impacting the game.

Ayton scored 21 points and added nine rebounds and four blocks. The Suns’ big man attacked at all three levels, catching lobs and hitting mid-range buckets. He even stepped out for a three to make the Pelicans pay for over-aggressively hounding Phoenix’s Chris Paul in the fullcourt.

“It’s supposed to be five blocks, by the way,” Devin Booker said. “He just protected our paint, man. We tell him that everyday. If somebody gets beat, you rotate. We have to have his back when Valanciunas is in offensive rebounding position and those other guys are crashing. We’re telling him ‘sell out, stop the ball.'”

Part of it, surely, was the perimeter defenders allowing more drives, especially in the third quarter. Ayton leaving Valanciunas forced other players to search for and stop the Pelicans’ big man from crashing the glass. Other times, it could have been flub-ups in execution in pick-and-roll coverages that saw a shot out of the action.

Initially after the game, the fix was just about Phoenix’s mentality.

“It’s not the old rebounding drills you do in high school … You can’t do any real contact like that in practice. We can stress it, but it has to be on our minds every possession,” Booker said.

Williams said that he would need to review the film to determine if there was one underlying issue. But, yeah, there was enough on his mind to know it shouldn’t have been that big of a deficit on the glass.

“We have to have a hit-first mentality,” Williams added. “Shot goes up, everybody’s star-gazing. … We just have to do a better job. I can sit here and talk about it all day long.”

Ayton talked out the possibility that he may have to make changes in how aggressively he leaves his man to help.

“Maybe I’m going to have to stay (on the big) and I can’t go (help) this time, give a good fight and try to get the board, close out possessions,” he said, thinking out loud.

Coming off a game that saw his team hold the Pelicans to 38% shooting, you’d imagine the Suns won’t be the ones making wholesale changes to their gameplans.

And again, Ayton’s teammates were not putting the discrepancy on him.

“It is our job (to rebound),” Paul said, speaking as a perimeter player. “We a team. For us, we’re not going to grow overnight. We just need to keep putting bodies on guys, boxing out, trying to do it as a collective.”

Comments

Comment guidelines: No name-calling, personal attacks, profanity, or insults. Please keep the conversation civil and help us moderate comments by reporting abuse.
comments powered by Disqus

Empire of the Suns

Nikola Jokic #15 of the Denver Nuggets is guarded by Kevin Durant #35 of the Phoenix Suns during th...

Kellan Olson

Suns respond to season’s low point with thorough win over Nuggets

The guessing game of which Suns team shows up on which night persists. The best current version did on Wednesday in a win over the Nuggets.

15 hours ago

Devin Booker #1 of the Phoenix Suns argues a call with official Pat Fraser n the first half as Jere...

Kellan Olson

Suns stumble through latest inexcusable effort, lose to shorthanded Spurs

The Phoenix Suns followed up Saturday's win over the San Antonio Spurs with Monday's offering being more of what we've come to expect.

3 days ago

Devin Booker #1 of the Phoenix Suns drives in front of Keldon Johnson #3 of the San Antonio Spurs i...

Kellan Olson

Phoenix Suns find better energy for clinical win over Spurs

The Phoenix Suns were overdue for a win like Saturday's 131-106 final over the San Antonio Spurs, taking care of business early.

5 days ago

Jusuf Nurkic #20 of the Phoenix Suns passes over Kyle Lowry #7 of the Philadelphia 76ers during the...

Kellan Olson

Suns work through typical turnover problems to defeat 76ers

The Phoenix Suns dealt with some of their usual issues while managing a comfortable win over the Philadelphia 76ers.

8 days ago

Isaiah Thomas #4 of the Charlotte Hornets looks on prior to the game against the Miami Heat at FTX ...

Kellan Olson

Isaiah Thomas returns to NBA, Suns after injuries derailed his career in its prime

Isaiah Thomas' NBA journey is a unique one. Here's how he thinks he can help the 2023-24 Phoenix Suns in a return to the league.

8 days ago

Phoenix Suns head coach Frank Vogel looks on during the second quarter against the Boston Celtics  ...

Kellan Olson

Suns in serious jeopardy of play-in tournament fate entering last month of season

You wouldn't have guessed it by watching them over the last two games but the Phoenix Suns are in a precarious position.

9 days ago

Is the Pelicans’ Game 1 rebound advantage a concern for Suns?