These 3 stats reveal why the Phoenix Suns can’t get it together

Suns’ underperformance can be explained by brutal stats and missed opportunities.

March has arrived. The homestretch is in sight. The final quarter of the season lies ahead. But for the Phoenix Suns, this isn’t a sprint to the finish. It’s a slow, grueling crawl. There will be no celebration when they cross that line, no high-fives, no next round. Barring a miracle, their fate is sealed.

Why? Oh, the reasons why.

One day, long after we’re gone, historians will sift through the wreckage of this season, trying to make sense of it. How could a team with this much talent, with this kind of payroll, collapse so completely? Twenty-five years from now, someone will pull up a dusty page on Basketball Reference, scanning the numbers, searching for answers. And still, they may never fully grasp how it all went so wrong.

It might take some digging, but eventually, they’ll uncover what we’ve all witnessed firsthand, night after night, game after game.

Sometimes, statistics don’t tell the full story. Sometimes, if you analyze a season purely through numbers, the downfall doesn’t quite add up. But I’ve learned that if you dig deep enough, if you truly understand which stats quantify certain behaviors, you can at least start to paint a picture of what went wrong.

That’s exactly what I’m here to do today.

I’m going to break down three statistics that expose, in no uncertain terms, why this team has underperformed so badly. Some of these numbers may surprise you. Others, you may not have even known existed. But if you’ve been watching this team night in and night out, you already know the truth. The statistics? They simply confirm what you’ve seen with your own eyes.

First Half/Second Half Plus/Minus

• First Half: +41 (12th)
• Second Half: -171 (26th)

You could feel this one coming, couldn’t you? You may not have known of the exact sta, but this passes the eye test. How many times have the Phoenix Suns taken a lead into halftime, only to unravel in the second half?

The numbers tell the story. Through 61 games, they’ve outscored opponents by 41 points in the first half. That’s solid. Encouraging, even. But then, the collapse. The second half has been their downfall. A staggering plunge that lands them 26th in the league in second-half plus/minus.

Why? That’s the lingering question. Was it rotational mismanagement? Poor coaching? A failure to absorb in-game adjustments? Were players too distracted? More engaged on social media than in refining their approach? Or was it simply a case of opponents making smarter halftime adjustments and executing them at a higher level?

Quarter by quarter, the story unfolds. The Suns haven’t just struggled in the second half. They’ve been ambushed. A staggering -119 in the third quarter alone speaks volumes. While they ease into the half, their opponents explode out of the locker room, ready to attack. The fourth? A -52. An improvement from last season’s disastrous -195, but still far from acceptable. The pattern is clear. When the moment demands urgency, the Suns hesitate. Their opponents don’t.

It’s a mystery, much like last season’s fourth-quarter failures. Failures that reached historically bad levels.

The Second-Half Suns. It’s a thing.

Opponent Points Off Turnovers

• -135 (26th)

This statistic reveals multiple facets of what’s going wrong with the Phoenix Suns this season. When you give up 135 more points off turnovers than you generate, it paints a clear picture of a team struggling in key areas.

First, it highlights the Suns’ inability to generate turnovers. They’re the second-worst team in the league at forcing turnovers, averaging just 12.3 per game. But it’s not just that. They also have a turnover problem of their own. With 14.1 turnovers per game, they sit in the middle of the pack, but when combined with their inability to force turnovers, it exposes a serious flaw.

There are several possible explanations for this issue.

Maybe the Suns are too old, lacking the length or athleticism to jump passing lanes or disrupt the ball enough to create turnovers. Alternatively, the team’s lack of energy could also be a factor, preventing them from being active on the defensive end. On the offensive side? They’re careless with the ball. Too often, they throw it away in live-ball situations, allowing opponents to capitalize on their mistakes.

This statistic speaks to a fundamental problem: a lack of ball security and an inability to impose defensive will. And as we all know, this team has been consistently poor defensively this season, making it even harder to recover from the mistakes they’re making.

Record with the Big Three

• 31 games played
• 16-15 record

Health is always a concern for any team, but when a franchise is built as top-heavy as the Phoenix Suns, it magnifies the risks.

This was the major fear when the Suns assembled their roster: if injuries strike, the season could be over. With over $50+ million sitting on the sidelines at times, it’s a glaring issue. While this could apply to any team in the NBA, the Suns’ top-heavy structure means they don’t have a stable of mid-level contracted players ready to step up and support the team when key players are sidelined.

So far this season, the Suns have had their big three together for just 31 of the 61 games played (51%). The result? A barely over .500 record. That’s a major red flag.

But it’s not just about the injuries. It’s about the Suns’ inability to consistently produce when their stars are on the court. That should be a cause for concern as the team tries to stay relevant in a highly competitive West.

Sure, the Suns are 11-18 in games where the Big Three isn’t intact, but the fact that they’re only 16-15 when all three are available highlights a grim reality: this experiment has not gone according to plan. Even when the team is at full strength, they still can’t win games consistently.

This underscores everything we’ve seen so far — poor defense, turnover issues, an inability to close out games — each contributing to a season that has been disappointing across the board. But perhaps the most crushing aspect of it all is that the Suns essentially mortgaged their future for a Big Three that simply doesn’t win basketball games. That is the real tragedy of this season.

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I’m sure there are other statistics out there that could explain why this team has stumbled so much this season, and believe me, I’ll point them out as they come. It’s truly been a comedy of errors in every sense.

When historians look back on this season, they’ll dive into the numbers and try to piece together what went wrong. But even then, they might never fully grasp the frustration we’re feeling. The confusion, the sense of being lost, the hopelessness. For fans, the offseason can’t come soon enough. We just want the chance to fix what’s broken.

It’s going to take a lot of WD-40, duct tape, and elbow grease to rebuild this team into something that can deliver the meaningful, positive results we’ve been waiting for. Until then, we will just wait and wonder, counting the stats as they go by.

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