It was a rough week for the Phoenix Suns as they continued their struggles at home this season with losses in matchups against the Sacramento Kings, New York Knicks, and Brooklyn Nets.
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!While each loss could certainly be credited to a different reason, whether it be defensive miscues, poor shooting, or turnovers, they all fit a broader theme that the Suns have faced early on.
That is: inconsistency.
Dealing with injuries all around their roster, which have extremely limited the time that their “Big 3” have spent on the court together, the Suns are still trying to find their footing.
As a result, for the 3rd straight week, they have slipped in the NBA power rankings; this time they land outside the top 15, sitting in the 17th spot.
The Suns are one spot behind the Houston Rockets and one spot ahead of the Brooklyn Nets, whom they lost to a few days ago.
John Schuhmann explained his reason why Phoenix fell another three spots in his rankings:
“Without Beal on Sunday, the Suns came back from 16 points down to beat the Wizards. But they probably shouldn’t have been 16 points down against the Wizards and, with their losses to Brooklyn and New York, they’re now just 2-9 against (other) teams that currently have winning records. Those 11 total games against the top 19 teams in the league are two fewer than any other team has played.”
The most alarming statistic that Schuhmann pointed out is the Suns record against teams with a winning record, which stands at 2-9.
Considering the Suns do have the 2nd hardest schedule remaining in the league, their record against above-average teams is not a road that they want to be on.
Elsewhere in the power rankings, the Boston Celtics reclaimed the #1 spot after a couple of commanding wins over the New York Knicks. The Celtics remain the only unbeaten team at home this season, holding a perfect 14-0 record at the TD Garden.
Trailing the Celtics are the Timberwolves at #2, the 76ers at #3, the Thunder at #4, and the Nuggets at #5.
Focusing back on the Suns and what they have on the schedule this week, Phoenix will head to Portland on Tuesday to take on the Trail Blazers.
Then, it will be the Kings on Friday, once again on the road, followed by a much-anticipated Christmas game against the Dallas Mavericks next Monday.
