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Suns' Len, Plumlee likely to stay in platoon due to up-tempo style

Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports

Anyone wondering if Alex Len was closing in on Miles Plumlee for the Phoenix Suns' starting center job can stop.

Len's sophomore campaign is off to an impressive start after the No. 5 overall pick a year ago missed a substantial chunk of his rookie season due to injury. Plumlee has been solid, too, though he's regressed some after a breakout season.

There isn't a competition, as it turns out. Head coach Jeff Hornacek said the team's style of play necessitates two centers playing a lot to avoid heavy fatigue, so it's unlikely that one will receive appreciably more run than the other.

"That's about their limit," Hornacek said Friday of their current platoon system, where each plays five or six minutes at a time. "Once they hit that, they start to tail down a little bit because we ask them to do a lot in terms of running the court for a big guy."

The minutes have been fairly evenly split through 13 games, despite Plumlee drawing the starts. Their performances have been similar as well, with Len having a slight edge in productivity and team performance when he's on the floor.

Suns Centers Plumlee Len
MPG 24.2 19.0
Pts/36 8.8 11.8
Rbs/36 9.5 9.6
Blk/36 1.4 1.6
FG% 50.7% 61.5%
O-Rating 106.0 109.0
D-Rating 108.6 105.5

The Suns have played at the league's fourth-fastest pace so far, averaging 96.6 possessions per game. Not a single team ahead of them has a center averaging even 30 minutes, so there's something to Hornacek's desire to manage minutes in an up-tempo system.

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