Eric Bledsoe had hoped to catch Golden State off-guard on the fast break, but three Warriors appeared to have recovered just enough. P.J. Tucker was accounted for in the corner, and the other two defenders had effectively zoned up the paint against Bledsoe, Len and T.J. Warren. A quick, clean look in transition didn’t appear forthcoming.
Then the fourth-year guard saw Warren – the youngest, least-experienced Sun on the court – do something that was all too refreshing. He kept moving.
“A lot of times I think guys are worried about catching the ball first and now they’re going to go, where T.J. doesn’t mind being on the move. If the pass is behind him a little bit, he doesn’t care. He snags it and he’s off to the races.”
— Jeff Hornacek on T.J. Warren
Bledsoe saw Warren’s stop-and-go cut from the opposite wing and rewarded him with the ball. The two interior Warrior defenders – who had just settled in after racing back to stop the initial fast break – were caught flat-footed. Warren sliced between both of them, drew the foul, and finished the lay-up.
The scoring end of that play in Monday night’s game was no surprise to teammates or coaches. Warren averaged nearly 25 points per game as a sophomore in the ACC, arguably the best conference in college basketball.
“We know what he does well,” said Suns Head Coach Hornacek said. “He can really score.”
It’s how he scores that has earned him a longer look in the Suns’ rotation. He tied his career-high in points (11) and set a new best in minutes (24) because he had earned those opportunities in Phoenix’s pervious game at Cleveland (eight points, five rebounds, one steal, one block in 12 minutes). Warren made his mark in both contests with the unprompted, willing activity the team has collectively struggled to maintain.
“We can show [players] the good spots to cut from, when to cut, catch the ball on the run from that slot area,” Hornacek said. “We go over and over it all the time, but T.J. just does it.”
Even a limited sample size is enough to gauge Warren’s impact. Nearly 65 percent of his baskets this season were assisted, the highest rate of any non-center on the Suns’ roster. Of the 101 shots he has taken, Warren has used one dribble or none at all on 77 of them. Only five of his shot attempts were preceded by more than three dribbles.
The point: he is the opposite of a ball-stopper on offense.
“He’s got great hands,” Hornacek said of Warren. “A lot of times I think guys are worried about catching the ball first and now they’re going to go, where T.J. doesn’t mind being on the move. If the pass is behind him a little bit, he doesn’t care. He snags it and he’s off to the races.”