A Rotation Decision That Hurt The Suns
Suns’ coach Alvin Gentry made a name for himself these playoffs for having a tremendous amount of trust in his bench. Guys like Channing Frye, Goran Dragić, and Jared Dudley each probably won a game themselves at some point during the Suns’ playoff run.
Coach Gentry had a great feel for when to keep his bench in, and when to put his his starters back in, but in Game 6 against the Lakers, he made two poor decisions regarding his rotation that probably cost his team the game. Riding Dragić, the Suns were able to cut the Lakers’ lead to 5 points with just about 6 minutes left. The 6 minute mark in the 4th quarter is usually when Gentry puts Nash and the rest of his starters back in, but in Game 6, he decided to ride the hot hand. Coming out of a timeout with 5:35 left in the game, Gentry had the perfect opportunity to go back with his starters, but he didn’t. Here were the Suns’ next two possessions on the offensive end:
