Bradley Beal has improved his playmaking, finishing with a team-high 12 assists in the Phoenix Suns' 131-106 win over the San Antonio Spurs. Beal, whose natural position is shooting guard, is taking over the point position from Devin Booker.
Suns coach Frank Vogel praised Beal, who has missed 19 games due to injury but found a way to impact his team. Beal has six straight games with at least seven assists and is averaging 6.6 this month. Via AZCentral.com's Duane Rankin:
“He's reshaping his game for his team,” Vogel told Rankin.
Beal, 30, is known as one of the top scorers in the NBA. In 2020-21, he competed with Warriors guard Steph Curry for the league scoring title, averaging 31.3 points.
This is the first time Beal has been on a team with other superstars. He said in the preseason he wanted to take advantage of it.
“I can work on my catch-and-shoot a little bit more, so it's good,” Beal said at his introductory press conference.
Beal is averaging the third-most points (18.1) on the Suns. His scoring has dipped but as Vogel said, he's taken on a selfless role for the team.
Bradley Beal's point guard role
The Suns do not have a true point guard. Beal, who is listed at 6-foot-4, is the same position as Booker, who is considered the best shooting guard. Booker manned point-guard duties but he is also one of the best scorers in the game, evident in his explosive first quarter Saturday.
Beal is someone who assisted his first- and second-most attempts for teammates in 2022-23 and 2021-22, respectively. ClutchPoints asked Beal about playing point guard, and the Suns star had this to say at the time about Booker.
“It's not easy playing point guard,” Beal said. “I think a lot of people kind of think it is, or make it look easy. But it's very tough.
“Now he (Booker) has a lot of help. So he can lean on that and be confident in all that.”
Beal's drives creating opportunities
Beal is someone who can carve through defenses and stop and pop to hit 3-point shots and score from the mid-range. Beal is someone who is very effective at driving to the basket, which opens up lanes for cutters and corner 3-pointers for Grayson Allen and Eric Gordon.
Beal, who is one of the best drivers in the sport, is averaging 14.4 over the last 10 games. The Suns' offense ran by Kevin Young has a new wrinkle that Chris Paul, who ran heavy pick-and-roll, could not do.
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