The Phoenix Suns are struggling. Losing three straight, the team is enduring just its second losing streak of at least three games of the entire season and its first since October. Beyond the losing streak, Collin Gillespie has been struggling to find his offensive role, averaging nine points per game and shooting 33% from both the field and three during his last eight games.
Averaging 13 points per game and shooting 43% from the field and 42% from three, the guard—who has emerged as the team’s starting point guard since early in the season when Phoenix was dealing with injuries—is having his worst stretch since becoming a starter. There appears to be a correlation between his struggles and Devin Booker and Jalen Green both being in the lineup. When just one of them is out of the lineup, his averages, both from a scoring and efficiency standpoint, go up.
If you look at Gillespie’s last nine games, which lines up with Devin Booker’s return from injury, his scoring, efficiency, and shot attempts are still down from his season averages.
With the Suns lacking offensive balance, people are calling for the Villanova product to lead the Suns’ second unit.
Whether Gillespie becomes the bench’s leading offensive engine or remains in the starting lineup, the Suns—and Gillespie—need his production to ramp up. The guard has as much incentive as the team for him to turn things around, with his unrestricted free agency looming in just a few months.
While both Devin Booker and Jalen Green are enjoying some of their best efficiency and scoring of the season (Booker has at least 31 points in his last four games, including multiple with 40), it hasn’t led to winning.
During the team’s losing streak, balance has plagued the Suns; only against the Celtics did the team have more than three players score in double figures. During some of the Suns’ best wins and stretches of the season, they’ve had a balanced offensive approach, with numerous games featuring six players scoring in double figures. Phoenix had three straight games with six players scoring in double figures during their win streak back in January on the road against the Knicks, Nets, and 76ers.
When Green and Booker don’t have it going, like they didn’t against the Timberwolves on Tuesday (the two went a combined 14/44 from the field and 3/13 from deep, scoring just 43 total points), the team needs more players to step up. While Grayson Allen hasn’t had a game with fewer than double figures since January 5th, with the shooting guard nursing a knee injury and the team facing another back-to-back later in the week, there need to be more offensive options for the Suns to get back in the win column.
Whether Dillon Brooks and Mark Williams return in a week or in a couple, for the Suns to make some noise—or at the very least be a playoff disruptor—offensive balance is needed, and it starts with the team’s lead point guard.
