Suns Coach Monty Williams Criticized for Lack of Bench Production

Phoenix Suns coach Monty Williams has received plenty of criticism in recent days, but such is life for any coach down 2-0 in a playoff series.

The Suns were unable to secure a much needed Game 2 win from the Denver Nuggets, a victory that would have shifted the dynamic of the series from 2-0 to 1-1 heading back to Phoenix for the weekend.

Chris Paul's injury late in the third quarter saw the Suns eventually relinquish an eight-point lead to Denver. Nobody outside of Kevin Durant and Devin Booker has stepped up, and that includes the entire bench unit as a whole. Their whopping four points last game proved to do very little against the Nuggets.

People have had enough.

After laying into Deandre Ayton on First Take, NBA analyst Stephen A. Smith then shifted his focus to Williams:

"The other person I need to hold accountable is somebody I love and revere: Monty Williams. You're right KP [Kendrick Perkins], he hasn't used that bench, and I gotta tell you something. I believe in [Terrence] Ross. I believe in TJ Warren. I think they could have helped you, I think they can do some things," said Smith.

"Cameron Payne and these boys off the bench, I think they can do some things. I think they look at a coach that didn't believe in them. Didn't believe in them in the first round, hasn't believed in them - they're averaging 14 points per game as a bench, an entire bench. 52 players this postseason have averaged better than 14 points in the postseason … that's about the coach, no way around it."

With Paul out with a groin injury for Game 3, any of the likes of Cameron Payne, Damion Lee and Landry Shamet could replace him - all of which have failed to impress in the postseason thus far.

Williams said this week at practice that Terrence Ross and TJ Warren could see "significant" more time moving forward.

"Those are two guys that could see significantly more time," Williams said after practice on Wednesday. "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."

This postseason, Phoenix's bench has been outscored 223-100.

Game 3 is tonight at 7:00 PM PST.