With 27 games remaining in the 2023-2024 season, the Phoenix Suns emerge from the All-Star break ranked 5th in the Western Conference and currently possess the toughest remaining schedule in the league.
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!To make things even more dramatic, the 5th seed Suns and the 8th seed Kings are separated by just 1.5 games. To avoid the play-in tournament, the Suns must conclude the season within the top 6.
In Bleacher Report’s recent final standings predictions, they anticipate the Suns finishing the season at 49-33, suggesting a 16-11 performance post All-Star break.
Zach Buckley at BR wrote, “It’s tempting to predict that everything finally clicks for the Suns, if only because the high end outcomes for the Kevin Durant-Devin Booker-Bradley Beal trio are truly jaw-dropping. But they’ve played .600 ball for nearly four months, so predicting a .596 win rate for the final two months feels justified.”
Buckley proceeded to outline two potential scenarios: either the Suns remain healthy and hit a hot streak, or injuries strike again, resulting in .500 basketball.
As Buckley pointed out, it’s reasonable to expect something in between the two extremes, maintaining a pace similar to what the team has displayed throughout the season.
“Could they finally catch a break from the injury bug and embark on a win-stacking tear? Sure. Could they lose multiple stars to injuries and have their depth issues exploited? Absolutely. We’re guessing we’ll see something in between those extremes—something pretty similar to what this team has shown to this point.”
Here’s how Buckley envisions the top 10 in the Western Conference standings shaping up:
1st: Minnesota Timberwolves (57-25)
2nd: Oklahoma City Thunder (57-25)
3rd: Los Angeles Clippers (55-27)
4th: Denver Nuggets (53-29)
5th: Phoenix Suns (49-33)
6th: New Orleans Pelicans (49-33)
7th: Dallas Mavericks (48-34)
8th: Sacramento Kings (46-36)
9th: Golden State Warriors (44-38)
10th: Los Angeles Lakers (43-39)
Do you agree with these projections?
