In the movie Hoosiers, head coach Norman Dale, played by Gene Hackman, coached his shorthanded Hickory Huskers team to pass the ball at least four times before shooting on every offensive possession.
Coach Norman Dale would have absolutely hated what the Phoenix Suns did in their last handful of possessions Thursday night in a 101-97 loss to Golden State, because there was no passing.
The Suns had their biggest lead of the game — a 14-point bulge with just over 10 minutes left — after Collin Gillespie drilled a 3-pointer. From that point on, the Suns managed to score seven points the rest of the way, squandering the game.
The offense devolved into clearing out a side for deliberate ISO ball from Dillon Brooks. That strategy has delivered timely buckets at different times this season. Not on Thursday. Brooks missed his last six shots in this one.
Did the Suns have other options offensively? Yes, but they were limited. They played again without Devin Booker and Jalen Green — two players who can create shots for themselves or find others after dribble penetration. Their next-best player at creation is Grayson Allen — but he left with a knee injury late in the fourth quarter, right in the middle of the Suns losing their grip on the game.
Yes, there’s recency bias here, but this is right up there for one of the worst Suns’ losses of the year. Even when shorthanded, this team has fought through adversity with effort and cohesiveness. Against the Warriors, the effort wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t up to the normal standard either. And cohesiveness disappeared late.
The Suns are now six games into a schedule stretch where 16 of 19 games are on their home floor. They’re 3-3 in that stretch so far and this is a team that can’t afford to squander opportunities like having a double-digit lead with seven minutes left.