The Dreaded Back-To-Back-To-Back; Reason For The Phoenix Suns To Worry?

by 7footer on Feb 13, 2012 12:17 PM MST

One of the more taxing byproducts of the shortened, compressed 2011/2012 NBA season are the back-to-back-to-back games that every NBA team must face on at least one occasion this year, along with some teams, like the Phoenix Suns, who are scheduled to to play two sets of them.

The Suns will play their first set of back-to-back-to-back games starting tonight with an away game against the Golden State Warriors before heading to play another road game against the Denver Nuggets tomorrow, and then finally heading back home to play the Atlanta Hawks on Wednesday. The Suns' next and last back-to-back-to-back series will come next month when they will face the Utah Jazz on March 14th at home, at the L.A. Clippers on March 15th, and back home against the Detroit Pistons on March 16th.

So what can we expect from the Suns' first back-to-back-to-back series of games? How have other teams who have already played three-straight games responded?

Continue reading after the jump for an analysis.

Up to this point, the back-to-back-to-back games thus far haven't been all that bad for the teams who have played them. In fact, of the 17 teams who have already completed a three-in-a-row series (Denver twice), 10 teams have come away with a winning record over the three-game stretch, with two teams (OKC Thunder, Chicago Bulls) going 3-0. Not only that, the overall record of all three-in-a-row games played by those 17 teams is 28-26...Not too shabby.

But what about that dreaded third game? Surely the records of those 17 teams haven't been favorable on the last game of the stretch, right? Wrong. Even when we look at the records of the teams playing the last game of the back-to-back-to-back, their combined record is 10-8.

Looking at these stats, one may be lead to believe that playing three games in a row might actually be advantageous for the team playing them...Well, not exactly. The thing is, the success of the teams playing the three-games-in-a-row has much more to do with the overall success of the team than it does the back-to-back-to-back games. That is, good teams can expect to do well in these games, but the bad teams...not so much.

In fact, none of the 10 teams who have come away with a winning record during the back-to-back-to-back games were sub-.500 teams.

So what can we take away from this? Well, I believe the most important thing these stats show us is that the back-to-back-to-back games tend to follow the same trend as most other games do. For the Suns who currently have a record of 12-15, the likelihood of coming out of these three games with a winning record probably isn't very high. But then again, that probably has more to do with the teams the Suns are playing and the fact that two of the games are on the road then it does the three-game stretch itself.

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hold on a second here

So, you’re discounting the “schedule effect”? We Suns fans don’t know what to do with that…

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by Alex Laugan on Feb 13, 2012 12:28 PM MST reply actions 1 recs

This.

Twitter: @MikeLisboa

by Mike Lisboa on Feb 13, 2012 1:41 PM MST via mobile up reply actions

I'm guessing

Not only that, the overall record of all three-in-a-row games played by those 17 teams is 28-26

it was actually 18 teams…. (54/3=18)

Interesting. Good insight. I wouldn’t have predicted such propitious outcomes. Obviously the exact factors inherent to each B2B2B are different, but this gives me hope that the Suns can take 2 out of 3.

Probably need to get the first one, though, so they better be ready to lambaste the Warriors tonight.

It was only called the mildly irritated house on McDowell until I showed up.

by Jim Coughenour on Feb 13, 2012 12:31 PM MST reply actions

17 teams, Denver twice.

I counted both of Denver’s back-to-back-to-back records in the stats…They went 2-1 the first time and 1-2 the second time.

Blogging Suns basketball for Bright Side of the Sun from Gilbert, AZ.
Follow me on Twitter: @thereal7footer

by 7footer on Feb 13, 2012 12:55 PM MST via mobile up reply actions

Poor reading comprehension on my behalf.

17 teams, 18 sets. That makes perfect sense.

It was only called the mildly irritated house on McDowell until I showed up.

by Jim Coughenour on Feb 13, 2012 1:13 PM MST up reply actions

Go all out for Golden State and Atlanta

Beating Denver in Denver is a stretch for the Suns anyways, even without Danilo. Warriors are beatable and played last night. Suns just beat Atlanta last week.

Get ready Hak and Brown, your time to shine!

by oLLiE Boombayay on Feb 13, 2012 12:55 PM MST reply actions

I'm thinking the same...

I wouldn’t be surprised if both Nash and Hill sit against Denver tomorrow night, but so far no official word from Gentry.

Blogging Suns basketball for Bright Side of the Sun from Gilbert, AZ.
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by 7footer on Feb 13, 2012 12:57 PM MST via mobile up reply actions

you can't show your hand that easily

That Nets experiment didn’t go so well, and the Nuggs are actually good. NJ is one of the worst in the league.

If it were possible for the Suns to play Nash and Hill less than 20 min., you could have them play all 3. Unfortunately the Suns need them too much. This is where a player like Brooks could help them out so much.

by oLLiE Boombayay on Feb 13, 2012 1:05 PM MST up reply actions

the suggestion they are discussing is giving up on the Denver game as a loss, in the hopes of winning the game before that and after that.

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by Alex Laugan on Feb 13, 2012 6:27 PM MST up reply actions

I'd rather we just win all 3

Don't trade Dudley!

by Beavis 25 on Feb 13, 2012 7:34 PM MST up reply actions 2 recs

Good to know

I wish a trip to Denver wasn’t involved, though. Between the mile high air and the Nuggets being a fast-paced team, that’s gonna be a huge challenge. At least they have a few guys banged up.

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by East Bay Ray on Feb 13, 2012 2:11 PM MST reply actions

While I enjoyed the lack of drama in the Kings game,

I wish Gentry had used the bench for a few minutes in the second half – more to build confidence, than anything. I understand why he didn’t, and he probably enjoyed the lack of drama even more than I did, but still – we are going to have to use our bench, and live with the results.
Golden State will probably be a barn-burner – it almost always is. I also think that sitting Hill and Nash for the Denver game would be wise, but I’m not sure I’d want to watch the results. And Atlanta is going to have revenge on its mind, so it will be a tough 3 days. 2 out of 3 would be great. And even though it’s a tough stretch, anything less would be a step backward. It may surprise no one to find that I’m still optimistic!

"The pessimist sees difficulty in every opportunity. The optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty."
"In the long run the pessimist may be proved right, but the optimist has a better time on the trip."

by haremoor on Feb 13, 2012 2:12 PM MST reply actions

I wish Gentry had used the bench for a few minutes in the second half – more to build confidence, than anything.

I think he’s been trying this all year, and it hasn’t built up confidence/performance yet.

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by Alex Laugan on Feb 13, 2012 6:28 PM MST up reply actions

Not a lot of future in giving up on the bench totally.

They actually played pretty well in the first half, and were nowhere to be seen in the second.

by haremoor on Feb 13, 2012 7:39 PM MST up reply actions

Shouldn't Suns.....

….make the Denver game top priority, since they are the only team we play that is above them in the standings? The home game against Atlanta is more of a “hope the rested bench players play out of thier mind” oppurtunity.

by Think about it on Feb 13, 2012 2:23 PM MST reply actions

That's a good point, and perhaps if we could choose 2 games to win it would be one of them.

However, we don’t match up well with Denver, we’ll be tired and the high altitude won’t help. We need wins wherever we can get them, and we’ve already beat ATL once so we might be able to do it again.

Go Suns, Packers, Jays, and Huskers!

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by Omaha Sun on Feb 13, 2012 2:26 PM MST up reply actions

I would play hard the first game

Then play hard in denver and if were arent getting whooped then play nash and hill all out.
If were down by 20 at halftime just say fuck it and play brown warrick etc. rest guys so they can be rested for atl. Dont play nash for 35 mins if you see were already finished. I figure we can.go 2-1 but denver isnt unstoppable with us being better since we last met and them having some guys hurt. Thats one of those games where we CANNOT play uber fast, we will lose. We gotta play a moderate paced game and above all make our shots otherwise well get murdered in transition.

"Clear eyes, full hearts, can't lose"

by phxpurple on Feb 13, 2012 2:41 PM MST via Android app up reply actions