I was away for a week getting married, and even *I* noticed the Phoenix Suns' 3-point defense.

-Gerald Bourguet

Suns' lack of urgency has to change, starting with their 3-point defense

Armed with a new Big 3 of Devin Booker, Kevin Durant and Bradley Beal, the Phoenix Suns entered the season with title aspirations.

With less than 15 games remaining, they're still playing with the complacency of a team that's already assured of contender status -- an odd look for a group that's currently eighth in the Western Conference and fighting to get out of a play-in spot.

“We're in the playoffs before the playoffs," coach Frank Vogel said at practice on Tuesday. "All of us want to get into the top six. We are confident that if we are in a play-in game, we will win. But there's too many variables with one-game situation like that. Somebody could get the flu, somebody could roll an ankle. You've seen it in some of these play-in games where key guys are out, and we want to stay away from those types of situations by hopefully going on a run, starting tomorrow.”

Vogel asserted that his team has a sense of urgency to avoid staying in seventh or eighth and having to deal with the play-in tournament. But the Suns' disappointing lack of urgency against the Milwaukee Bucks over the weekend highlighted -- or rather, low-lighted -- how often this group just seems to go through the motions like they can flip the switch at any time.

Milwaukee shellacked Phoenix for 82 points and 18 3-pointers in the first half alone last Sunday, and while the Suns eventually made it a single-digit game, it was too little, too late. That mentality has to change, and it starts with the Big 3.

“We definitely can't lay eggs like that," Beal said. "We gotta come out with a lot better focus and a lot more sense of urgency than what we've been having. It's been way, way unacceptable, and we all know that, so we gotta be better these last 14 [games], really lock in, and it starts with us three and our attention to detail and our focus. And when we're good and we're focused and locked in, the rest of the team can follow.”

Beal said the Suns have had conversations about their lack of urgency, but noted that each individual needs to look themselves in the mirror and commit to doing more. Accountability starts there, but it also extends to the film room. There, an alarming, but not entirely new trend -- 3-point defense -- revealed itself over the last week as a major separator between Phoenix and a few of the East's elite teams.

“Guard the 3-point line -- by a mile our top emphasis with our film session," Vogel said. "Did a lot of drill work just to double down on the urgency that's expected of me with regard to getting better defending the 3.”

Over the Suns' four-game road trip, they faced three teams that rank in the top-eight for 3-point attempts, as well as the top-six for 3-point makes. First, the shorthanded Cleveland Cavaliers made 15 triples while taking 14 more attempts than Phoenix. Then, the Boston Celtics -- who lead the NBA in 3-point attempts and makes, while also ranking second in 3-point percentage -- took a whopping 50 attempts and nearly made as many 3s (25) as the Suns attempted (31).

And to close the trip, the Milwaukee Bucks dropped another 24 triples on Phoenix's head, out-attempting the Suns by eight. Getting lit up from 3-point range by Darius Garland, Al Horford and Bobby Portis pinpointed how drastic that disparity can be for Phoenix, and how much simple math will limit their playoff ceiling if things don't change soon.

Offensively, when the Suns move the basketball and avoid devolving into too many iso-heavy, midrange looks, they generate enough 3s. There's a reason Phoenix is 18-3 this season when they record 30-plus assists, and their number of attempts from beyond the arc serves as fairly accurate barometer for their success:

Suns' record when attempting fewer than 30 3s: 12-11
Suns' record when attempting 30-39 3s: 22-17
Suns' record when attempting 40-plus 3s: 5-1

Unfortunately, despite ranking ninth in the NBA in 3-point accuracy, the Suns attempt the fifth-fewest 3s per game of any team. They also give up the sixth-most 3-point makes per game to their opponents, which leads us to the stat that will determine Phoenix's playoff ceiling: The Suns are 23-6 when they beat or tie their opponent in made 3-pointers. When they lose the 3-point battle, they're 16-23.

Increasing their own 3-point attempts is a matter of moving the ball, keeping everyone involved and avoiding the two ends of the spectrum that Phoenix frequents when it vacillates between iso-heavy, stagnant offense and overpassing instead of just taking good shots. That feels fixable with additional reps, especially with the sheer talent and firepower on this roster.

What will be more difficult is fixing the defensive side of the equation, and the team's 2-2 road trip served as a preview of what needs to change if the Suns hope to make it past some of the league's sharpshooting teams. Defending the 3-point line was the main area where Vogel felt his team didn't play hard enough against Milwaukee and Boston, and it showed in a number of ways.

“Awareness, a lot of over-helping, a lot of short closeouts," Vogel said. "The spread-five coverages gave us problems, we didn't execute them well enough. We have protections built in to keep our centers on the floor, but we didn't execute them very well. But if anything, when you have a 3-point barrage like you saw in those two games, they're all shapes and sizes."

Poor closeouts, over-helping and struggling to defend stretch-5s is nothing new for the Suns. But those flaws were exacerbated against some of the NBA's most dangerous 3-point attacks, and the lackadaisical closeouts in particular called into question Phoenix's effort and sense of urgency.

Booker has long been one of the biggest culprits in this regard. Whether it's because of the energy he exerts on offense, not being 100 percent since returning from his latest ankle sprain, or simply recoiling from the idea of getting up under jump shooters as a scorer himself, Book's conservative closeouts are a frustrating viewing experience.

He's not alone, of course. The Suns' struggles with screen navigation were noticeable whenever Beal or Grayson Allen tried to cover pull-up snipers like Garland or Damian Lillard. The team's general lack of effort to match up in transition led to wide-open 3s for Garland, Portis and Patrick Beverley -- the type that feel backbreaking because of how embarrassingly uncontested they are:

Some of these examples (like Isaac Okoro's corner 3) are by design, daring poor 3-point shooters to hit shots. But these are still professional basketball players. At least get a hand up? Or challenge the shot in a way that doesn't feel like an assistant coach "contesting" their players' shots in warmups?

“We have to avoid those things," Beal said. "Obviously you're gonna make adjustments. Guys are pros, they lace 'em up just like we do. But at the same time, we can control a lot of the 3s that they're attempting. Just not even getting looks up, I think that helps us. When guys are getting shots up and getting good looks and the ball's rotating and popping and they're getting a good feel, it's gonna be tough to beat 'em that night.

"So I think once we do a better job of starting the game and taking those initial actions away, we'll be a lot better-suited throughout the game.”

Unfortunately, the short closeouts are just the tip of the iceberg. Over-helping has been another problem, with Beal being a repeat offender. Sometimes the help defender is coming too far over because most of these guys haven't been on the court together long enough to build that trust. Sometimes weak-side defenders are getting caught ball-watching.

And sometimes, the Suns' ball containment is so poor they have to over-help just to cut off the drive, forcing Phoenix to scramble to cover kick-out 3s. It's really been all of the above lately:

“First of all, you gotta continue and never stop rotating," Vogel said. "Second of all, you do have to get to the 3-point shooters, not only after they've made a few, but to start the game. Don't let 'em get going. A lot of times, fly-by helps just lead to another backside 3 with re-drives. We talked about arriving on the catch. Be in your gaps, show a presence, but close out with urgency to arrive on the catch and contain your man. That's the best closeout is when you get there, you take away the 3 and you don't get beat off the bounce.”

At the end of the day, the Suns simply may not have the personnel for the type of defense they want to play. Protecting the paint became a major point of emphasis after the Suns got torched inside over the first few weeks of the season, but building the defense out from there in order to adequately protect the paint and the 3-point line has been a struggle.

Jusuf Nurkic has been much better than expected on that end, but he still has his limitations, and playoff teams will repeatedly target him in the pick-and-roll, hoping to exploit his flat-footedness. They will force him to make multiple decisions in succession, which becomes a problem when they also lack the type of point-of-attack defenders who can mask some of those flaws.

Basically, if Josh Okogie can't be at least playable on offense, Grayson Allen, Bradley Beal, Devin Booker and Eric Gordon are the Suns' only options to contain elite perimeter scorers.

All of this conspires to make opponents with reliable stretch-5s that much more difficult to stop. A simple pick-and-pop becomes nightmarish when the Suns are already scrambling to protect against their issues with containing dribble drives, navigating screens, and deciding when to put Nurk in the drop and when to play him at the level.

It's not just Nurkic either. Drew Eubanks and Bol Bol struggle with those same types of actions against opponents who can play five-out:

“Everybody needs to be better with guarding the 3-point line and having more of a sense of urgency of guarding our guys and getting out to shooters, especially when teams have stretch-5s who can shoot," Beal explained. "I think that's kind of what's been kicking our butt a little bit as of late. So we gotta be a lot better with that, understanding personnel and just a big sense of urgency."

With the Suns facing the second-toughest remaining schedule in the NBA, they're running out of time to put it all together. That sense of urgency has to show up against the Philadelphia 76ers on Wednesday, and it has to start with navigating the 3-point math that continues to put Phoenix at a disadvantage.