With the loss of CP3, the Suns closing 4th quarter offense has gone from best to worst.

Booker can single-handedly pull us out of it, but even he’ll need to sit stretches of the 4th to be fresh in crunch time.

We have uber-offensive talent even without Booker, and we need to see simple, but effective sets in the 4th when Booker is sitting. Here are some starter ideas:

• Pick and roll with KD/Beal as the ball-handler and either the center (Nurk/Eubanks) or the player who’s being guarded by the worst defender as the screener. Nurk and Eubank can both dish the rock, so if there’s a TRAP, KD/Beal can thread the ball and start a 4 vs 3. If there’s a switch, Beal/KD can cook the mis-match.

• Spain PnR with one of our 3 point shooters (Yuta, Greyson, KD, etc) back-screening the big while the ball handler drives into the lane. This opens up a 3 ball, puts the defense into rotation, allows our big to for the offensive glass.

• Push the ball in transition. KD is tired, but the bench guys should be fresh. No reason we can’t keep pushing the ball in transition to get buckets and fouls.

• Give it to KD off of movement. Posting KD 20 feet from the basket with the other team’s best defender is ok, not great offense. Have KD move around a screen, catch the ball on the move and go into a PnR or other action.

• Use KD as a decoy. If KD posts on one side of the court - all eyes are on him. Put Yuta in the opposite corner, and do PnRs with the big and Greyson/Beal/Gordon and drive to the rim. The best defender is out of the play

• Go KD at the 5. We have the length with KBD and Yuta to play KD at the 5, opening up driving lanes for everyone. This will either force the opposition to match, and in either case, we’re at least trading buckets until Booker comes back in the game.

• Don’t play Okogie and Goodwin at the same time for the love of god. The game grinds to a halt in the 4th, and with the slow pace, their disruptive defense and offensive rebounding isn’t adding enough to offset lack of spacing