More 3s, Eric Gordon shines in return: Takeaways from Suns bounce back win in Charlotte

CHARLOTTE — Balanced attack. Double-doubles. Bounce back win.

Granted it was against one of the NBA's worst teams, but the Phoenix Suns won the second of a road back-to-back, 107-96, Friday over the Charlotte Hornets before a crowd of 18,613 at Spectrum Center after losing Thursday to NBA-leader Boston.

Seventh in the West, Phoenix (39-28) had all five of its starters reach double figures with Devin Booker going for a team-high 21 points to go along with 11 assists.

Grayson Allen followed up with 17 points, Bradley Beal went for 15 while Kevin Durant and Jusuf Nurkic added 13 each.

Nurkic grabbed a game-high 21 rebounds. The Suns generated 31 assists, only turned the ball over 10 times and outrebounded Charlotte, 57-48.

The Suns led by as many as 25 points and won despite going 11-of-38 on 3s. The Hornets (17-50) were worse from deep, 6-of-37, after connecting on 23-of-46 in their first matchup against the Suns on Dec. 29 in Phoenix they lost.

Here are takeaways as the Suns conclude their four-game road trip Sunday afternoon at Milwaukee. The Suns beat the Bucks in their first matchup, 114-106, Feb. 6 in Phoenix as the Big 3 combined for 85 points in the win.

The Suns are now 16-10 when Booker, Durant and Beal have been in the lineup.

Eric Gordon impactful return from knee injury

The Suns have surely missed this.

Gordon scored 14 points off the bench, hitting 4-of-8 from 3, after missing Phoenix’s last two games with a left knee contusion. Dealing with nagging injuries all season, Gordon was 1-of-10 from deep in his previous three games.

The bigger number for Gordon is 22 minutes. Suns coach Frank Vogel said he would not be on a minute restriction, but him playing that many minutes means someone will play less.

It felt like that was the case for Royce O’Neale, who was the backup to Kevin Durant instead of being the first guy off the bench for, say, Allen. O'Neale went for 15 minutes and relocated the touch in making his only 3.

Gordon is the better shooter, isn't the defender O'Neale is, but those two will be part of the second unit with now Bol Bol and Drew Eubanks.

Generating more 3s

Vogel isn't letting up on this.

He's going to insist on the Suns take more 3s despite their Big 3 of Booker, Durant and Beal being three level scorers who thrive in the midrange.

The analytics and numbers back Vogel. Seeing Boston not only make 25 from 3 Thursday night but avalanche 50 attempts was insane. The Celtics lead the league in 3-pointers attempted, made and are third in percentage.

They live well from 3. Not every team can do that. Most teams can't, but the Suns are ninth in the NBA in 3-point percentage with Allen leading the league in 3-point shooting percentage at 47.6%.

More Allen, more catch-and-shoot, faster pace

So how about this. See that Allen gets more 3s to start. He did get off a team-high nine Friday, making just 3s, but Allen should get more looks from deep. The Suns aren't running plays for him, but he can be more aggressive.

Then, more catch-and-shoot 3s. Beal and Durant need to generate more of those, particularly from the corners.

Finally, play faster. Gordon talked about the importance of that and moving the ball to put up 40-plus from 3 a game. That seems to be the target number for the Suns, but it can't be walking the ball up.

Even if it goes against how Durant has played most of his career. He talked about making sacrifices for the team, but the Suns could do the same to have even more catch-and-shoot on 3s, more cuts to the basket.

They ran play in which Nurkic received the pass at the free throw line and found Booker on a backdoor cut for a layup. Still need balance just for their main guys to find a rhythm or stay in one. That was a far better possession than Booker coming off two screens, holding the ball and then taking a side step contested 3 that was off target.

Taking more 3s is one, but creating easier shots, whether from 3 or not, is the challenge Too many times they're taking fadeaways jumpers instead of getting layups. There's a reason they're 23rd in points in the paint.

There's a balance. Suns need to figure it out because that fourth quarter got a little grizzly due to a 1-of-9 from 3 in the quarter. They factored in the Hornets midway through the fourth, but Phoenix's only 3 of the quarter delivered by Allen gave the Suns a 13-point lead with 6:30 left.

They can be favorable daggers or momentum-building misfires when the other team capitalizes.

Have opinions about the current state of the Suns? Reach Suns Insider Duane Rankin at dmrankin@gannett.com or contact him at 480-787-1240. Follow him on X, formerly Twitter, at @DuaneRankin.

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This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: More 3s, Gordon's big return: Takeaways from Suns win at Hornets