Remarkably, the Suns reintroduce an almost fully recovered three-time All-Star into their starting rotation, and lo and behold, the tides in the Valley shift.
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Since Bradley Beal’s most recent return, the Suns have won three in a row by a combined point differential of 40. In these games, Beal averaged 17 points.
As a result, along with climbing to 8th in the Western Conference, the Suns received a boost in ESPN’s NBA Power Rankings.
Last week, they fell to their lowest point all season, now they are back to 15th, jumping 4 spots.
Not surprisingly, McMenamin at ESPN credited the return of Bradley Beal as part of their recent success.
“The clouds appear to have parted ever so slightly over the Valley of the Sun. Phoenix has won four straight and beat Portland on Monday, a night Kevin Durant rested his hamstring. Meanwhile, Bradley Beal scored 20-plus points in two of those games, while shooting 62.1% from the field. The Suns’ next three games at home should be a good litmus test: They face the surging Clippers, the rising Heat and then Ja Morant and Memphis.”
Importantly pointed out by McMenamin, the Suns are looking ahead to a more challenging stretch of games that include two meetings with the Clippers, a matchup against the Miami Heat, and then the Memphis Grizzlies on January 7th.
Over the next six days, Phoenix will play 4 games, all against opponents who have climbed in the standings over the past week or so.
