Three Points For Phoenix Suns To Improve On Following Boston Celtics Rout

The Phoenix Suns are on the receiving end of back-to-back blowout losses, but their defeat to the Boston Celtics has raised some red flags despite being still on many NBA fans' championship radar.

Better Shot Selection

The return of Chris Paul to the lineup had Suns fans optimistic about their chances against the Eastern Conference's top team, but the Celtics proved themselves to be the best team in the NBA by far this season.

Boston broke the Suns' defense early and quickly by jumping to a 10-point lead that ballooned to 45 points, but the Suns' bench unit was able to close that gap to 27 when the game ended thanks to Josh Okogie's career-high 28-point outing.

However, the Suns could not find their shot and just made a lone three-pointer in 16 attempts at one point in the game.

Phoenix was in panic mode for much of the second quarter as they scrambled for open looks that barely materialized as the Celtics' defense locked them down on nearly every single possession.

Devin Booker mainly tried to will his team into the game by attempting shots with a defender in his face, but it clanged off the ring more often than not and the same goes for both Mikal Bridges and Paul despite them having some rare open looks.

It is a tough ask, but if the Suns are to be serious title contenders, they cannot afford to lean on making isolation plays, slow switches, and lack of ball movement to get the win.

Backup Plans When Shots Are Not Falling

Granted that it is extremely hard to game plan against a team that was on fire from the jump, the Suns' coaching staff needs to have options when the three-point shot is not falling.

Phoenix logged 44 points in the paint when it was all said and done and that needs to be something they have to focus on especially when they cannot make a jumper to save their lives.

Diving into the paint and getting free throws is a great way to get back into the swing of things and it was something that the Suns appeared to have forgotten in this one.

Settling for jumpers and forcing up three-pointers was their preferred approach against a Celtics team that is still missing big man Robert Williams.

Deandre Ayton also barely impacted the game as the Celtics almost always had two to three players on him as soon as he had the ball in his hands, forcing him to cough up the ball a team-high four times.

Keep The Pace Up

With Paul back in the lineup, the game slowed down considerably as they opted for halfcourt sets which the Celtics were able to easily counter with the consistent pestering of guys like Marcus Smart, Jaylen Brown and Grant Williams.

It would have been an ideal game plan to do so against relatively slower and taller teams, but the Celtics were simply too quick in setting up their defense while the Suns were still bringing the ball up the floor.

Paul can certainly quicken the pace, though it was his first game back and he may have still been getting his legs underneath him.

With Cameron Payne leading the bench unit in their late-game scoring outburst, the Celtics had trouble defending the Suns' quick ball movement and rotation as they found some easy looks inside the paint and from beyond the arc.

Granted that garbage time came early in this one, the Suns have a ton of young legs off the bench that benefit greatly from playing high-octane basketball.

All in all, the Suns need to go back to the drawing board and come back better prepared when they visit the New Orleans Pelicans at the Smoothie King Center on Friday, December 9.