Suns preseason 3-point tracker: 39 attempts in Game 1 with multiple makes by the rook

Well that didn’t take long.

There’s been a lot of talk centered around Mike Budenholzer injecting 3-point shooting into the Phoenix Suns, but to see it play out on a live court has a different effect than just hearing “We’re going to shoot more.”

In their 118-114 win over the Los Angeles Lakers in their preseason opener on Sunday, the Suns shot 16-for-39 (41%) from 3, which is a mark for attempts that was exceeded only 10 times last regular season. They made more than 16 only 13 times.

Devin Booker got it started with a few early ones, including a 4-point play over his close friend, D’Angelo Russell.

“I still think we had a look at a few more,” Booker told AZ Central’s Duane Rankin postgame. “Nothing felt forced. Some nights it’s gonna be like that.”

To me, the most exciting shooter who did not force things and still produced was first-round rookie Ryan Dunn, who finished 2-for-6 from deep. This was a breath of fresh air after he made just 1-of-13 over four summer league games and after we were told he was underrated as a shooter.

Before later showing exceptional defensive flashes against LeBron James, Dunn hit a corner 3 for his first attempt from deep.

He had another later off the assist from fellow rookie and self-proclaimed “twin,” Oso Ighodaro, who finished with a nice five assists to three turnovers.

“I thought we got really good looks, obviously being our first time playing against a new team after playing with each other for three or four days, I thought it was really good,” two-way guard Collin Gillespie told Rankin. “It’s not gonna be clean right now, it’s the first game obviously.

“But just working on spacing, where guys like the ball, so I think that was really important for us.”

Gillespie had one 3-point make and five assists, including one to Josh Okogie for a 3 in the final three minutes as the Suns completed their comeback.

Dunn had a stop during that final stretch and was later whistled for a borderline goaltending, but the rookie was making his presence felt on the defensive end in a very real way. That’s what we expected from him, but again, it’s nice to see it play out on a live court.

The next step for him is showing consistency and proving the two makes weren’t a fluke. Not only are two makes and six attempts the high marks of Dunn’s young-and-not-yet-regular-season-inclusive NBA career, but they’re also marks he rarely or never reached in college.

Just once did he make two 3s in a game over two seasons and he never attempted more than four in one game, so the following games will show how real the uptick is.