Turnovers Are Costing Suns - And They Know It
PHOENIX -- The Phoenix Suns have a turnover problem.
The Suns once again suffered a loss due to turnovers, this time giving up the ball 22 times in a game that they were on the brink of closing out against the Oklahoma City Thunder.
The Suns made 14 threes to Oklahoma City's nine while also making five more shots at the free-throw line, but OKC ultimately won due to the extra possessions create through the 22-5 turnover discrepancy.
A pair of Phoenix players spoke about the ball security issues in the post game press conferences.
Suns guard Bradley Beal on what OKC did to create the turnovers and what Phoenix must do better:
“That is definitely why we lost the game; they did a good job of junking up the game a little bit. Forced us into a lot of bad passes, sometimes we played in crowds, we weren't making good passes; just everybody," said Beal.
Jusuf Nurkic on the continued emphasis on taking care of the ball:
“I mean, I got five of them. Few games ago, I got seven of them. So, I have to be better. I think from tonight we saw some players step up. Big emphasis and number one going forward. We have the power, people who can score the ball no matter what," he said.
"I think if we do not turnover, we are going to win a lot of games. We cannot be dominating teams as we wish, and we cannot if we turn the ball over."
Nurkic and Beal both seem to be on the same page - the Suns have had far too many instances of not only turning the ball over, but also being far too predictable on reads.
The Suns are as good as anyone at getting the ball in the hoop, but a vet-laden team with multiple proven ball-handlers shouldn't be yielding turnover rates that are near the top of the league.
At this point, the sample is too large. Phoenix is who they are at this point - a borderline elite offense that gets held back significantly by a lack of ball security.
The turnover issue could plague the Suns the remainder of the season, especially in a prospective playoff run where each possession is as valuable as the last.
The Suns return to action tomorrow night on the road against the Denver Nuggets before heading back home for a two-game set.
