Kevin Durant and the Suns may have escaped a near-choke job against the Nuggets, but they must rectify this issue moving forward.
The Phoenix Suns, despite being without Devin Booker, who is currently nursing an ankle injury, went out to a huge lead over the Denver Nuggets on Tuesday night. They led by as many as 20 points in the third period, and they entered the fourth quarter with a nine-point lead, 90-81. However, through the first 11 minutes and 30 seconds of game time in the fourth quarter, the Suns scored a paltry nine points, almost giving the game away before Kevin Durant bailed them out with a game-tying three-pointer that eventually sent the game to overtime.
While the Suns will be able to breathe a sigh of relief tonight, as Durant found his three-point stroke in overtime and Bradley Beal came alive in the extra period as well en route to a 117-107 win over the Nuggets, this troubling fourth quarter performance is merely a continuation of a problematic season-long trend.
As ClutchPoints Twitter pointed out, the Suns, who were outscored by the Nuggets by nine points in the final period, have now been outscored by a total of 199 points in fourth quarters this season (for an average of 3.2 points per game). This is the worst total in the NBA, and by a comfortable margin as well, as the second-worst team, the Golden State Warriors, has “only” been outscored by 85 points.
As shown in the TNT broadcast of the Suns’ win over the Nuggets, Phoenix has far and away the worst net rating in the fourth quarter among teams with a .500 record or better. The Suns are being outscored by their opponents by a staggering 14.5 points per 100 possessions in the final frame.
The Phoenix Suns are the worst 4th quarter net rating team in the NBA in 23 seasons.
They have a -14.5 net rating in 4th quarters this season. pic.twitter.com/Csn79hR2j6
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) March 6, 2024
It’s a testament to the fact that the Suns have been comfortably a solid team during the first three quarters that they remain 10 games above .500 even though they’ve been rather putrid in fourth quarters. It nearly cost them yet again; for a team with Kevin Durant, Devin Booker, and Bradley Beal on it, this is simply unacceptable.
Moving forward, the Suns will have to stop letting their feet off the gas pedal and stop devolving into isolation basketball to prevent their offense from bogging down in the final frame.
About the Author
Jedd Pagaduan is a certified Clippers and Gunners fan, which means he’s a very sports-traumatized individual. He now writes about sports instead as a form of therapy.
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