The Suns Are Learning A Hard Lesson About Late Game Offense

Going into TD Garden and facing the Boston Celtics is never easy. The Phoenix Suns found that out again, even in a game where they fought like hell. They lose by eight. That is the headline. The feeling is something a little different, because for most of the night, Phoenix was right there.

But then it happened again. The offense tightened up late. The Celtics closed on a 10–1 run as the game slipped away. You could feel it happening in real time, like watching sand fall through your fingers. This is now two straight games against high-level defenses where Phoenix has allowed the opponent to dictate how things end.

That is the conundrum right now.

For large portions of the game, the Suns’ offense flows. The ball moves and the system breathes. It looks like the version of this team that can be dangerous. Then the game tightens, the margin shrinks, and everything narrows. The offense becomes predictable. And it does not have to be that way.

Because when things get tight, everything starts to orbit around Devin Booker. It is understandable. After all, it is Devin Booker. On a night like this one, Phoenix is not even in the game without him. He ripped off 23 consecutive points bridging the second and third quarters, carrying the offense while Boston was raining threes and threatening to blow the doors off. He kept them alive.

But late in games, that reality becomes a signal to the defense. Opponents know where the ball is going. They load up and send two. Heck, sometimes it’s three, and they are grabbing and pulling the entire way. The entire possession becomes about forcing the ball into Booker’s hands, and good defenses are built to disrupt exactly that.

Boston did. That is where the adjustment has to come.

Because this team has other options. Jalen Green is finding his rhythm. The roster is filled with capable shooters. There are counters available if Phoenix is willing to use them. Running your entire late-game action through the idea of getting Booker the ball at all costs becomes easier to defend with every possession, especially against elite defenses. The Suns do not need to force it. They need to trust the rest of what they have built.

There was one possession late that was a reminder that Booker’s presence opens the door of opportunity for others; they just need to step through it. Down 114-111 with 1:32 left, they let the action breathe. By the time he touched the ball, the defense had shifted, the floor had opened, and he had a lane and drove. The gravity followed him, as it always does, and he made the right read, kicking it out to Haywood Highsmith.

Highsmith was open and he had been shooting well. The clock was winding down. That shot has to go up. Instead, he swung it to Grayson Allen, who caught a live grenade with the shot clock expiring and had to force something up. Empty possession.

But within that possession was the answer.

That is what it can look like when the Suns do not force Booker into the first action. That is what it can look like when the offense moves, when the defense is forced to react instead of anticipate. The opportunity was there, it simply was not finished. This roster has options. Jalen Green can touch the paint. Grayson Allen can attack off the catch. There are multiple ways to bend a defense before it ever gets to Booker. If you start possessions elsewhere, if you allow others to initiate, something interesting happens. The pressure on Booker eases.

The defense cannot load up the same way. Rotations get longer, decisions get harder, and when Booker does receive the ball, it comes in space, not in a crowd. That is how you unlock him late in games, or that is how you generate scoring elsewhere. Because this team is chalked full of capable scorers.

Right now, part of the issue is not only execution, it is structure. Booker is seeing loaded defenses, dealing with physical coverage, and at times letting frustration with officiating creep in. All of that is real. But the Suns are not always putting him in the best position to succeed either. Forcing the entry pass as the first action plays directly into what elite defenses want. Booker, as a second or third action, is a different problem entirely.

And games like Boston and Toronto, as frustrating as they are, matter. These are reps against disciplined defenses. Smart defenses. The kind you will see when the games actually count. The Suns are getting a crash course in what works and what does not. Now it is about applying the lesson.

Bright Side Baller Season Standings

Jalen Green dropped 34 points against the Toronto Raptors, doing so on 13-of-25 shooting, and that matters. Because for him, it has never been about whether he can score. It has always been about how he scores. And lately, it is starting to look cleaner.

That performance earns him another Bright Side Baller nod, his fourth of the season, which ties him with Jordan Goodwin.

Bright Side Baller Nominees

Game 68 against the Celtics. Here are your nominees:

Devin Booker
40 points (15-of-24, 2-of-7 3PT), 3 rebounds, 6 assists, 1 block, 7 turnovers, +2 +/-

Jalen Green
21 points (8-of-20, 1-of-7 3PT), 7 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 turnover, -12 +/-

Haywood Highsmith
16 points (4-of-8, 4-of-5 3PT), 4 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal, 0 turnovers, -1 +/-

Grayson Allen
13 points (3-of-7, 2-of-6 3PT), 1 rebound, 2 assists, 5-of-6 FT, 0 turnovers, -5 +/-

Oso Ighodaro
4 points (2-of-4), 4 rebounds, 8 assists, 2 steals, 0 turnovers, -2 +/-

Jordan Goodwin
6 points (2-of-5, 1-of-4 3PT), 5 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 steals, 1 turnover, -9 +/-

Time to vote!