Three takeaways from the LA Clippers’ loss in Phoenix

LA looked a step behind on defense

Coming into Saturday night’s matchup, all signs seemed to indicate that the Phoenix Suns would look a little slow against the LA Clippers. After all, they played the Denver Nuggets on the road Friday night in a game that went to overtime. Teams rarely win on the second night of a back-to-back, and especially so when Denver is involved.

Instead, it was the Clippers that looked a step behind.

The Suns got open look after open look against LA, many of which came from three-point range. The Clippers were often late to rotate over to their man and were slow on switches that resulted in someone being wide open on the perimeter or in the paint. Phoenix did a fantastic job of finding that open man, too.

In total, the Suns combined for 32 assists and just 16 turnovers. Devin Booker, Jevon Carter and Frank Kaminsky all had six assists or more.

In particular, the Clippers had a difficult time covering Phoenix’s bigs from beyond the arc. Kaminsky, Dario Saric and Aron Baynes shot a combined 7-of-17 (41.2 percent) from three-point range.

The Clippers struggled to prevent the Suns from getting to their spots. Instead of keeping them contained, Phoenix was the team doing the pushing and forcing the Clippers into tough spots defensively. That’s a large part of the reason why Patrick Beverley fouled out in the fourth quarter, and why Landry Shamet, Maurice Harkless and Kawhi Leonard each picked up five fouls of their own.

It’s overstated, but the NBA truly is a make-or-miss league. And Saturday night, the Suns were making their shots.