The Phoenix Suns Displayed Another Defensive Masterclass In Win Over Miami

Throughout an NBA season marred by injuries, you’re lucky to see the two conference leaders square off in a fully-loaded matchup. More often than not, a star will be sidelined. Or, multiple role players — the ones who ultimately swing a playoff series — are absent.

On Wednesday night, the West’s top-seeded Phoenix Suns were on the road, facing the East-leading Miami Heat. With Chris Paul still nursing a fractured thumb and Jimmy Butler being a gameday scratch due to a sinus injection, it wasn’t exactly an optimal situation for those hoping for an NBA Finals preview.

Nevertheless, with both teams down rotation players, the national audience was able to see a glimpse of how dangerous Phoenix and Miami can be in the halfcourt.

For the Heat, the first half illustrated how they can generate open looks for their sharpshooters, particularly Duncan Robinson. Whether it was their version of split-actions involving Robinson and Bam Adebayo (similar to Golden State’s design for Steph Curry and a big man), or their tendency to push the pace in transition with shooters darting to the corners, Miami was satisfied with their process.

Phoenix took their licks early. They trailed by as much as 11 in the opening quarter once Robinson caught fire. During the first timeout, Suns center Deandre Ayton addressed the team, telling everyone to increase their energy level on defense and match the Heat’s physicality. Having just played in Orlando the night before, Phoenix was a step slow on rotations, not boxing out effectively, and perhaps worst of all, not getting back in transition.

In the first 4:27 of the game, Miami was torching Phoenix from beyond the arc and beating them down the floor nearly every time. The Heat scored 20 points on the first 12 possessions, an offensive rating of 166.7 – enough to spark the initial timeout by Monty Williams so they could get everyone on the same page.

“They came out just nailing threes and we weren’t up in our coverages,” Williams said. “After that, we played much better on the defensive end. Then, offensively, we started getting the ball from side to side. That allowed us to, at least, have balance so we could get back in transition. We had to take care of that much better in the first and second quarter. They were getting leak-outs off of their contests on deep shooters.”

After the 4:27 mark in the first quarter, Miami had 88 total possessions the rest of the game. They scored just 70 points in that span, giving them a 79.5 offensive rating following the Suns’ first timeout.

Without CP3, their vocal leader and controller of tempo, the Suns stepped on the gas. Phoenix outscored Miami 101-70 once they recovered from the early hiccup. It resulted in their 30th double-digit victory of the season, the most in the NBA (Utah is second with 28).

“It was pretty cool to watch our guys, on a back-to-back, play with that kind of juice and energy,” Williams said. “I told the guys, it was one of the best defensive performances I’ve ever seen. Now, I’ve been around for a little bit. I’ve probably been around some that are better. But with this group, it was one of the best I’ve ever seen.”

Having spent time in the San Antonio Spurs’ front office a few years ago, Williams definitely watched an incredible defensive game or two. But he might have a point when it comes to this Phoenix team, who continues to separate itself from other Western Conference contenders. This win pushed their lead to 8.5 games over the second-seeded Memphis Grizzlies.

At this point, the Suns might be chasing history. No team in the last 20 years has finished a regular season at least eight games ahead of the No. 2 team in its conference. Not even the 2015-16 Warriors, who went 73-9 with the 67-15 Spurs trailing by six games.

According to Cleaning The Glass, Wednesday’s impressive victory was the Suns’ third-stingiest outing of the season by defensive rating. Removing garbage time, they allowed Miami to score just 89.4 points per 100 possessions. It was behind Phoenix’s 71.4 defensive rating at Washington on Feb. 5 and the victory over Boston on Dec. 10, in which they held the Celtics to just 86.7 points per 100 possessions.

Given the competition level, it’s certainly in the running for their best defensive night. Had Butler been active for Miami, it may have been a different story. Butler is practically a walking free throw because of how he’s mastered the art of drawing contact.

Still, you play who’s in front of you. The Suns are fighting aggressively on both ends of the floor regardless of who’s available for them, or the opponent.

Once Miami got their attention on Wednesday with multiple three-pointers, Phoenix was alert and steady defensively until the final buzzer. Watch Landry Shamet and Devin Booker closely on this first-quarter possession. Shamet is guarding Tyler Herro to begin the play, and positions himself nicely to fight over the Dewayne Dedmon screen to ensure he stays attached:

Shamet eventually forces Herro to pick up his dribble and immediately crowds his air-space. It forces a kick-out to Caleb Martin. On Herro’s drive, Booker had dropped down to tag the roller (Dedmon), and now it’s his responsibility to sprint back out to the perimeter. When Martin catches the pass, Booker doesn’t give him an inch. The possession ends with a tough, contested mid-ranger to beat the shot clock.

To end the first quarter, Booker is again defending Martin in the right corner. Since the Suns are switching everything within this scheme, he calls out the switch once Martin clears to the weak-side. As Herro is driving on Torrey Craig after a screen, Booker times his help defense perfectly:

He waits until it’s obvious that Herro is gathering, and reaches in to force a jump-ball whistle. The timing was everything. He could have left Oladipo a second too early to step in front of Herro, and it would’ve likely created a corner three.

Booker’s 23 points, eight rebounds, and nine assists are going to jump off the page when you discuss his impact, but he made countless defensive plays that helped Phoenix get timely stops.

On this possession, he tries to jump out and get over Adebayo’s dribble handoff-screen. As he gets drilled by the screen, Ayton makes sure to switch to Robinson and prevent the open three. That allows Adebayo an open lane to roll freely to the rim.

However, Booker knew the onus was on him to recover. In a form of “helping the helper,” he thanks Ayton for the switch by chasing down Adebayo for the rejection:

This is, without a doubt, Booker’s most impactful defensive season since entering the league. His value doesn’t have to come from steals or anything that appears in the stat-sheet.

Sometimes, it’s just the recognition of when to slide over as the low-man in certain coverages, and using his size to provide help at the rim. Here, as Dedmon is charging down the lane with PJ Tucker (Booker’s man) clearing to the corner, he rotates over and helps Phoenix get a huge stop:

Wednesday was Booker’s first night back after missing four straight games due to the NBA’s health & safety protocols. As Williams told reporters after the game, Booker hadn’t been able to play, or even practice, in a full week. The Suns’ leading scorer worked out on Tuesday and participated in some shooting drills on Wednesday, at which point Suns assistant Jarrett Jack told Williams that Booker looked ready to perform.

“He’s just gifted,” Williams said of Booker after the win. “I thought our team fed off his – as they say – swag this morning in the team meeting. In the game, there was a level of calm because Book was out there. That’s something I certainly don’t take for granted.”

The Suns’ defensive plan of switching everything caused Miami to get flustered in the halfcourt. Because of how difficult it was to create an opening, the Heat had to figure out ways to break loose.

Even when Herro (or any other guard) slipped out of screens with Adebayo acting as the playmaker, the Suns’ length was disruptive all night. Here, Mikal Bridges gets beat backdoor, but easily makes up the ground and swats Herro’s attempt:

Phoenix was swarming Miami’s guards in the third quarter, not allowing the Heat to get the same dribble penetration they did in the opening frame. Even if Miami did sniff the paint, they were walled-off and forced to reset:

While this will show up as a non-significant win during the dog days of March, it was indicative of how scary and tied together the Suns can be defensively.

The Suns improved to 8-3 on the second night of back-to-backs, despite having a -0.6 net rating in those 11 games. In true Suns fashion, it means they’ve (largely) clawed out those wins in clutch-time minutes. It doesn’t matter if they are missing key pieces, or if they are gassed and ready to end a road trip.

You will never see this Phoenix team going through the motions or taking a night off. The Suns are now tied for second in halfcourt defensive rating on the season, slightly behind the Celtics. As a top-three team on both sides of the court, and a group that displays the ‘next-man up’ mentality as much as anyone in the league, Phoenix is starting to check off every indicator of a championship favorite.