PHOENIX — The first half of the puzzle for the Phoenix Suns to pass the Dallas Mavericks for the 10th seed and final spot in the West play-in is complete thanks to the Indiana Pacers beating the Mavs 135-131 on Wednesday. Phoenix needs to beat the Chicago Bulls in order for the play-in puzzle to be complete.
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!Down by as much as 16 in the first half, the depleted Mavericks battled back to go up by as much as 11 points until Andrew Nembhard went on a personal 6-0 run to seal the deal in crunch time. Dallas is plagued by injuries to the top half of its rotation, including a season-ending torn ACL to Kyrie Irving and an adductor strain to Anthony Davis that has kept him out since making his debut.
The Suns, on the other hand, have been relatively healthy as the season winds down. Against Chicago, Bradley Beal (left hamstring strain), Grayson Allen (left foot strain) and Mason Plumlee (left quad strain) are all out. The Bulls are reeling, winners of five of six and are on their own quest to advance in the Eastern Conference play-in.
Following Wednesday’s matchup with Chicago, Phoenix takes on a gauntlet in its 12 remaining games that includes two matchups against Milwaukee and Boston and individual games against Oklahoma City, Cleveland, Houston, New York and Golden State.
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Reporter Connor Moreno covers the Phoenix Suns for Burn City Sports. You can follow him on his X account, @cmorenoNBA, and on Bluesky, @cloading.bsky.social
