Here come the Suns. And I say… is it all right?

As the 9^th-seed in the Western Conference (41-29, just a half-game behind Dallas and Memphis), the Phoenix Suns are hungry to make a surprise playoff appearance one year after finishing dead last in the West. They pay a visit to the Highlight Factory (7:30 PM Eastern, SportSouth, FoxSports Arizona) to face an Atlanta Hawks team that strives to… well, it’s hard to tell exactly what they’re hoping for these days.

The Hawks’ fourth-quarter play of late belies their insistence on doing what it takes to clinch a playoff berth in the dingy Eastern Conference. Leading by two points through three quarters at home against New Orleans on Friday, they scored 34 points in the final stanza, which would have been quite the impressive number were it not for the 42 they gave away at the other end. The mere 34 combined points Atlanta ceded to the Raptors yesterday afternoon in the first and third quarters mattered not, as they were outscored 36-15 in the closing act, after leading by ten.

Now, they come home to deal with a Suns team that has won three straight and feeling pretty good one night after storming back from 22 points down to win in Minnesota, in what was essentially a play-in home game for the T’Wolves. Like the Raptors, Phoenix was down ten through three quarters before rising from the ashes. If the Hawks manage to build another second-half lead, will they be able to find the accelerator for the home stretch, or will be they just be satisfied with cruise control?

Three weeks ago in Arizona, Atlanta’s defense melted in the first half against a blistering Suns offense that put up 79 points without the services of star guard Eric Bledsoe. The Hawks were without starters Paul Millsap and Pero Antić. Jeff Teague outpointed Goran Dragic with 29 points plus 9 assists, while Mike Scott filled in admirably in Millsap’s absence with 20 points. Kyle Korver was en fuego, going 6-for-7 on threes, and even Lou Williams got into the act with 15 points in his last double-digit effort. Yet the Hawks’ defense had no answers for starter Gerald Green (33 points, 5-for-8 3FGs, 10-for-10 on free throws) or the Morris Twins (a combined 39 points and 17 rebounds for Markieff and Marcus) off the bench.

Bledsoe (15.3 PPG, 5.1 APG, 41.0 FG% in his last seven games) is now back, and the Suns are 5-1 since he returned to the starting lineup. Alongside the tenacious Dragic, Bledsoe gives Head Coach Jeff Hornacek a backcourt combo not unlike his own days in Phoenix when he paired up with Kevin Johnson. As a bonus, with Bledsoe back, Green returns to a reserve role to bolster the Suns’ bench scoring. The non-starters rang up 61 points last night, more than triple Minnesota’s bench output. By comparison, the Hawks’ bench mustered just 45 points in their past two games combined.

Avoiding a third-straight loss will be tough now that Kyle Kloser is out for a third consecutive night with back spasm issues. Without him, DeMarre Carroll needs someone able to help force tough shots from P.J. Tucker (19 points vs. Minnesota) and Gerald Green off the bench, and otherwise disrupt the flow of Phoenix’s offensive attack. That may require Head Coach Mike Budenholzer to lean on Mike Scott to play a more active and focused role defensively. Shelvin Mack (2 steals vs. Toronto, first in seven games) must also help create turnovers and produce points off of them.

Carroll (team-high 17 points, mostly in the first half) and the Hawks also need someone off the bench to bring some offensive punch and take the pressure off of him, Teague, and Millsap. Dennis Schröder, Lou Williams, and Cartier Martin must be ready for the greenlight. Williams (31.4 free throws per 100 field goal attempts, 4^th on the team; 83.7 FT%) can help his own cause by working his way inside and piling up points from the free throw line.

Center Pero Antić was not used much on the interior against Toronto’s foul-heavy defense, and his overreliance on a wayward long-range shot (0-for-5 on threes) kept the Raptors from having to lean too heavily on their frontcourt subs. Meanwhile, the Wolves were basically done in against the Suns last night after Kevin Love got a little too happy with the three-point line (8-for-15 2FGs, 11-for-11 FTs, 3-for-10 3FGs).

The Suns’ defense at the 5-spot consists basically of Miles Plumlee (top 15 in NBA for rebounding percentage and block percentage), Markieff Morris, and Pray for Rain. Especially when Plumlee is not in the game, there is no logical reason to be settling for three-point shots, specifically the Hawks’ bigs, and particularly considering how bad the Hawks have shot as a team (13-for-48 on 3FGs) in their last two outings.

This could be a good time for Budenholzer to give Mike Muscala some meaningful minutes and rest Elton Brand. The Hawks need their bigs to crash the offensive boards against a Phoenix team that gives up 14.6 second-chance points per 100 possessions (4^th most in NBA) and 46.8 points-in-the-paint per-100 (3^rd most in NBA).

Go Hawks!

~lw3