All right, so I did some digging around through statistics, because this kind of stuff interests me. I was curious to find out what kind of precedent there was for a Suns team taking so few shots and getting to the line so frequently. At the very least, I figured it had to have been uncommon since bringing Nash into the fold four years ago. Below are the results:

The 61 FG attempts are the fewest in any game this decade (dating back to the 1999-2000 season). At this late hour I didn't really feel like delving back into further history to see if this was some kind of franchise record, but at the very least it shows what a rarity this is. To contrast, in Nash's first four seasons with the Suns, the team attempted less than 70 field goals in a game just eight times.

Meanwhile, the attempts at the line from the Bucks game (54) were also obscenely high. In fact, it was the highest number of FTA since 2001, which we'll get to shortly. That's 22 more free throws than ANY game in 2005-06. No other game in the past seven years even came close; the only ones in range were a couple of 42-attempt games (3/4/08 against the Jazz, 2/14/05 against the Jazz) and a 44 FT outing (11/26/01 against...the Jazz).

Way back in 2001, when gas was 10 cents a gallon, Mario Elie started and Vinny Del Negro came off the bench for the Suns, Phoenix and Orlando squared off in a matchup that was eerily similar to the game on Saturday. Here are the two lines:

02-20-01 @ Magic: 32-62 FG, 43-55 FT
11-08-08 @ Bucks: 27-61 FG, 44-54 FT

The situations are a little different, of course; Amare contributed 20 of those 54 free throw attempts by himself. The 2001 team had to depend on Shawn Marion getting to the line 13 times, with some significant help from J-Kidd, Uncle Cliffy, Tony Delk and Rodney Rogers (and a nice six-foul contribution from then-Magic player Bo Outlaw). The '01 squad only attempted seven threes, which looks much different than what we've become accustomed too. It becomes clear that such a glaring disparity between a scant amount of shots and a huge number of trips to the line is pretty rare.

One thing worth mentioning: Unlike in the 7SoL era, the FGA/game being this low isn't that uncommon. Out of the seven games so far this season, the Suns have fewer than 70 attempts in five of them, and have yet to take more than 80 shots in any game. It would seem Porter's more deliberate approach on the offensive end -- as well as the discretion on when to run and when to slow it down -- has already taken effect, but not at the expense of winning (or scoring).