The Phoenix Suns are up against it heading home for Game 3 of their Western Conference Semifinals series against the Denver Nuggets Friday night.
Phoenix finds itself in a 2-0 series hole and could have very well lost future Hall of Fame point guard Chris Paul for the remainder of the series. Paul suffered a groin injury in Game 2 and is going to be sidelined for at least the next three games.
Sure, the Suns still have Kevin Durant and Devin Booker to rely on, but there’s a major issue as it relates to depth on their roster. Said issue was created after Phoenix gave up multiple assets to acquire Durant from the Brooklyn Nets back in February.
Suns head coach Monty Williams addressed these depth concerns in speaking to the media recently. In doing so, he suggested that veterans T.J. Warren and Terrence Ross will get more play with CP3 sidelined.
“Those are two guys that could see significantly more time. Those kinds of decisions only hurt you when you have an injury. Then you wish you could’ve got those guys a bit more reps to prepare for that. We have these days to get ready for that and the guys who play. We were in a good rhythm right before Chris got hurt.”
Phoenix Suns head coach Monty Williams on expanded rotation
Warren played in just 16 regular season games for the Phoenix Suns after being acquired from Brooklyn as part of the aforementioned Durant blockbuster trade. He averaged 4.2 points on 43% shooting in just 12 minutes of action.
Ross was picked up from the Orlando Magic on the buyout market shortly after Phoenix acquired Warren. The veteran saw action in 21 regular season games, averaging 9.0 points in 18.4 minutes of action.
Warren has played less than six minutes in two playoff games and has been inactive in each of the Phoenix Suns’ past four outings. As for Ross, he’s seen action in less than 10 minutes while being inactive for five of the Suns’ seven playoff games.
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Phoenix Suns need role players to step up if they want to advance
It’s going to be a lot to task of Warren and Ross given their lack of recent playing time. Instead, it’s more important that Phoenix’ other role players step up behind Durant and Booker.
Deandre Ayton scored 14 points and took just 10 shots in the Suns’ Game 2 loss to Denver. He’s being tasked with going up against Nikola Jokic on the other end of the court, so anything Ayton can provide on offense is a bonus.
With Paul sidelined, guards Damion Lee and Cameron Payne must play better. They combined to score two points on 1-of-12 shooting in Game 2. In fact, the Suns’ bench scored all of four points in the loss.
What does all of this mean? Simply put, Phoenix is not going to make this a series if it needs to rely on Booker and Durant every time down the court.
“I can do a better job of putting more scorers on the floor and living with whatever warts may come with that just to free those guys up so they don’t have to do it every single time down the floor,” Williams said on Wednesday. “We’ll make those adjustments accordingly.”
The adjustments include getting Warren and Ross more playing time. Both have a history of being able to score. Warren averaged nearly 20 points for the Indiana Pacers back in 2019-20. The 32-year-old Ross is averaging 11 points on 36% shooting from distance throughout his career.