The Suns have been the most dominant team in the NBA this season and it hasn't been particularly close. Not only are they running away with the best record, but they're outscoring opponents by an average of 8.4 points per 100 possessions. That's the best net rating in the league by a mile.
Most of Phoenix's games have been decided long before the start of the fourth quarter. The thing is, most of the ones that haven't been decided heading into the final frame have ended in a similar fashion.
According to NBA.com, the Suns have played 38 clutch games this season, meaning the game was within five points heading into the final five minutes. Phoenix's record in those contests? 32-6, marking the fewest losses a team has suffered in those situations since the 2015-16 Warriors, who broke the Bulls' single-season wins record that was long thought to be unbreakable.
How have the Suns done it? I'm glad you asked.
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Welcome to the Chris Paul and Devin Booker show
Let's not complicate things: Phoenix is home to two of the league's best clutch scorers.
Chris Paul has long been picking teams apart in crunch time. Even at this stage of his career, the Point God is among the leading clutch scorers, doing so on 25-for-43 (58.1 percent) shooting from the field, 4-for-10 (40.0 percent) from 3-point range and 25-for-31 (80.6 percent) from the free throw line.
Devin Booker has been even better. Only nine players have scored more points than him with the game on the line and he's been just as efficient as Paul, posting .560/.409/.771 shooting splits.
Compare that to other players, and you'll quickly realize that's not even close to normal.
(Paul and Booker are two of the three bubbles on the top left. The other is Mike Conley.)
There aren't many players in the NBA who can create shots for themselves as easily as Paul and Booker. Neither one of them gets to the basket all that much — you'd think Paul is allergic to the restricted area based on how few shots he's attempted there on the season — but they're as good as it gets shooting off the dribble, particularly from midrange.
Paul is an undersized point guard in his mid-30s, and yet he's as crafty as ever. Teams that dare drop against him, meaning they drop their big back to protect the basket, are playing a losing game, and he only needs a slither of space to get his shot off. We talk a lot about Kevin Durant's ability to shrug off defenders. (For good reason, I should add.) According to NBA.com, Paul is 56-for-111 (50.5 percent) from 2-point range against tight coverage this season.
That's a mind-boggling number for someone who is 6-feet tall on a good day.
"I ain't never been 6-5, 6-6, so I've always had to shoot with a fadeaway to get the ball up over those bigger defenders," Paul told ESPN. "That's my happy place."
Booker can do a lot of what Paul can — he's also an elite pick-and-roll scorer who is deadly from midrange and isn't phased by defenders being draped all over him — only he's more dynamic off-ball and he's even more of a tough shot-maker.
Just ask the Timberwolves what Booker is capable of doing when the game is in the balance.
Or the Mavericks.
Or the Kings.
Or the 76ers.
Some of the shots Booker has hit against teams this season are flat-out mean.
Paul, of course, is also an elite playmaker for others. Russell Westbrook has logged 177 clutch minutes and leads the league with 32 assists. Paul ranks second with 30 assists, only he's played half the amount of minutes (85) as Westbrook.
Oh, and Paul has only committed five turnovers in those situations. Rarely does he make a mistake. And if neither he nor Booker has an advantage, odds are Paul will sniff out someone who does, whether it's a perfectly placed bounce pass to Deandre Ayton on a duck-in or kicking it out to Jae Crowder or Mikal Bridges for a wide-open triple.
Led by Paul and Booker, the Suns have scored at a rate of 131.3 points per 100 possessions in the clutch this season, the best mark in the league by — you guessed it — a mile. They've been totally unstoppable.
Defense wins championships
If chasing around Paul and Booker isn't enough, the Suns make life living hell for teams on the other end.
According to NBA.com, the Suns have held opponents to 98.5 points per 100 possessions in the clutch. That's the second-best mark in the league, trailing only the Wizards (98.2), believe it or not.
That shouldn't come as a huge surprise to anyone who has followed Phoenix's rise over the last couple of seasons. He might not be the defender he once was, but Paul's defensive IQ is still off the charts and he's still oh-so pesky. Booker was once seen as a defensive liability but has made tremendous strides, to the point where his coach is campaigning for him to make an All-Defensive Team.
Then there's Bridges, who is a legitimate Defensive Player of the Year candidate, Crowder, who is one of the league's toughest defenders, and Ayton, who has proven himself to be one of the best and most versatile defenders at the center position.
Put it all together, and the Suns have little-to-no holes defensively. It's a big part of what makes them almost unbeatable when it matters most.
