{"id":105927,"date":"2024-11-09T14:04:18","date_gmt":"2024-11-09T19:04:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/?p=105927"},"modified":"2024-11-09T14:04:18","modified_gmt":"2024-11-09T19:04:18","slug":"suns-clutch-time-play","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2024\/11\/09\/suns-clutch-time-play\/","title":{"rendered":"Suns Clutch Time Play Continues to be a Strength"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2024\/11\/06\/suns-kevin-durant-workload\/\" target=\"_self\">Phoenix Suns<\/a> have started the season with an 8-1 record, mostly due to their dominance in the clutch.\u00a0 This record also matches the best start to a season in <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.nba.com\/news\/starting-5-nov-9-cavs-suns-stay-scorching-hot-jokic-ant-make-more-history\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">franchise history<\/a>, which occurred in both 1980-81 and 2009-10.\u00a0 In nine games so far, the <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.nba.com\/stats\/teams\/clutch-traditional\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Suns<\/a> have been involved in seven clutch games, winning all of them.\u00a0 A \u2018clutch\u2019 game is defined as a game in which the score is within five points with less than five minutes remaining.<\/p>\n<p>On Friday night, the Suns won their latest clutch game, a <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.espn.co.uk\/nba\/boxscore\/_\/gameId\/401704756\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">114-113<\/a> victory over the <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2024\/11\/05\/historic-nba-mavericks-compare\/\" target=\"_self\">Dallas Mavericks<\/a>.\u00a0 After leading by as many as 14, they saw themselves trailing by six in the fourth quarter. A 7-0 run restored Phoenix\u2019s lead before a masterful display of shot-making by former teammates <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/d\/duranke01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Kevin Durant<\/a> and <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/i\/irvinky01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Kyrie Irving<\/a> kept the game close. A last-second foul committed on <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/n\/nurkiju01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Jusuf Nurkic<\/a> gave the Bosnian the opportunity to win the game. He obliged, draining one of two free throws. It has helped them to the top seed in the <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2024\/10\/11\/the-best-veteran-newcomer-on-each-western-conference-team\/\" target=\"_self\">Western Conference<\/a>, tied with the <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2024\/11\/06\/the-next-15-games-for-the-thunder-could-be-crucial\/\" target=\"_self\">OKC Thunder<\/a> in first.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">KYRIE AND KD ARE DUELING.<\/p>\n<p>GOING BUCKET-FOR-BUCKET ON ESPN \ud83c\udf7f <a  href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/FGT4io1H0E\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/FGT4io1H0E<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; NBA (@NBA) <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/NBA\/status\/1855082696810041526?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">November 9, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<h2>Suns Clutch Time Play Continues to be a Strength<\/h2>\n<h3><strong>These Suns are Different<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>While mainly the same roster, this season\u2019s Suns are far different from what was on display last year. Under <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/coaches\/vogelfr99c.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Frank Vogel<\/a>, the Suns were a woeful fourth-quarter team, highlighted by their league-worst net rating of <a  href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/nba_university\/status\/1855086228363673755?s=46\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">-11.6<\/a>.\u00a0 Overall, they were 20-21 in clutch games. Although the sample size is small, the improvement has been staggering. Their current win streak stands at seven games, and six have been by six points or fewer. This is the first time this has happened since the 2009-10 New Orleans Hornets and just the <a  href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/underdog__nba\/status\/1855084352398381549?s=46\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">fifth time in history<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Durant has been the catalyst for this success, having been able to carry the side when the likes of <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/b\/bookede01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Devin Booker<\/a> and <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/b\/bealbr01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Bradley Beal<\/a> have struggled offensively.\u00a0 In clutch minutes this season, the 36-year-old has <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.nba.com\/stats\/players\/clutch-traditional?PerMode=Totals&amp;dir=A&amp;sort=PTS\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">scored<\/a> 35 points, the most in the NBA. As a whole, he is averaging <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.nba.com\/stats\/players\/traditional?dir=A&amp;sort=PTS\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">27.6 points<\/a> on 55.3% shooting.\u00a0 He was recently ranked sixth in the first <a  href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/thedunkcentral\/status\/1854889983703757278?s=46\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">MVP ladder<\/a> of the season, but he is sure to rise should these performances and wins continue. Though it is still early, he is almost certain to be one of the frontrunners for the Clutch Player of the Year award.<\/p>\n<h3><strong>Tougher Tests to Come<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>However, it would be fair to argue that this level of play is unsustainable. That being said, it is encouraging that the Suns have been able to showcase they are capable of executing down the stretch when needed, something that has proved rare in the past year.\u00a0<a  href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/coaches\/budenmi99c.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Mike Budenholzer<\/a> has shown flexibility in his closing lineups, showing trust in a variety of groups. Point guard <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/j\/jonesty01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Tyus Jones<\/a> was not part of the final group against the Mavericks, but Budenholzer has turned to him in previous games. This time it was Nurkic he turned to, and the center delivered with five points in the final minute.<\/p>\n<p>In an ideal world, the Suns will have more comfortable games going forward.\u00a0<a  href=\"https:\/\/www.espn.co.uk\/nba\/story\/_\/id\/42279948\/torrid-suns-keep-things-interesting-mavs-move-8-1\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">According to ESPN<\/a>, they have the second-lowest points differential of any team that has won eight of its first nine games, which stands at 30. But against some tough opponents, this early season experience should do nothing but benefit them in the long run. The stretch does not get any easier with the <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2024\/10\/24\/sacramento-kings-sharpshooter-kevin-huerter-set-to-start-in-season-opener\/\" target=\"_self\">Sacramento Kings<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2024\/11\/04\/julius-randle-trade-will-pay-off-for-timberwolves\/\" target=\"_self\">Minnesota Timberwolves,<\/a> and OKC Thunder on the horizon. Nevertheless with Durant operating at an MVP level, it will not be beyond the Suns to extend their winning streak further.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Phoenix Suns have started the season with an 8-1 record, mostly due to their dominance in the clutch.\u00a0 This record also matches the best start to a season in franchise history, which occurred in both 1980-81 and 2009-10.\u00a0 In nine games so far, the Suns have been involved in seven clutch games, winning all [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5293,"featured_media":105971,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"1","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1608,62,28],"tags":[311,352,69,406,550,49195,569],"class_list":["post-105927","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-basketball","category-nba","category-suns","tag-bradley-beal","tag-devin-booker","tag-kevin-durant","tag-kyrie-irving","tag-mike-budenholzer","tag-nba-clutch-player-of-the-year","tag-tyus-jones"],"modified_by":"Eamon Cassels, Editor","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/105927","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5293"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=105927"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/105927\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/105971"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=105927"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=105927"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=105927"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}