When the Suns began training camp in early December 2020 at the Verizon 5G Performance Center in Camel Square, they had two statistical benchmarks they wanted to hit — rank top five in both offensive rating and defensive rating.
The Suns nearly achieved that feat during the regular season, finishing seventh in offensive rating and sixth in defensive rating, respectively. Those figures were good enough for the second-best record in the league and the West’s No. 2 seed.
In the postseason, the red-hot Suns, who have won seven straight games and swept the Denver Nuggets on Sunday night, winning Game 4, 125-118, have largely won through their stingy defense.
They have actually slightly declined offensively, dropping to ninth in offensive rating, but have taken a giant step defensively, jumping to No. 2 in defensive rating (they were No. 1 as recently as a few days ago). They’re allowing 5.
