PHOENIX — Tuesday night was the perfect concoction of results for the Phoenix Suns and their quest to remain/move up in the Western Conference play-in. Now, all they need is a win against the Boston Celtics on Wednesday to pass the Sacramento Kings for the ninth.
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!On Tuesday, the Kings, Dallas Mavericks, San Antonio Spurs and Portland Trail Blazers all lost, moving Portland and San Antonio 3½ games and Dallas ½ game behind Phoenix for the No. 10 seed and the Suns and Sacramento (35-37) tied for the ninth seed. Kings are 2-1 against Phoenix this season with their final matchup slated for the penultimate game of the season.
Phoenix, winner of four straight, is 2-0 to begin its 10-game stretch of matchups against some of the league’s best teams, including wins against the Cleveland Cavaliers and Milwaukee Bucks, Wednesday’s game against the defending champion Celtics, and other games against the likes of Oklahoma City, Milwaukee and Boston again, Golden State, Minnesota and Houston.
A win against the Celtics on Wednesday moves Phoenix up to the No. 9 seed over the Kings, at least for the moment, until Sacramento takes on the Trail Blazers on Thursday where a win would move them back over the Suns for the coveted seed.
If you were to look at Phoenix’s upcoming schedule last week, you’d think they would be falling out of the play-in at this point, but an impeccable stretch of scoring from Kevin Durant that won win Western Conference Player of the Week and a newfound defensive identity behind rookies Ryan Dunn and Oso Ighodaro, Collin Gillespie and Cody Martin in Bradley Beal’s absence due to injury has revitalized the Suns and their ceiling this season.
With the chance to not only host a do-or-die play-in game, but potentially finish over .500 despite the disappointing season Phoenix has endured, the sky is the limit and this turnaround has been unprecedented. Boston may be without its MVP candidate Jayson Tatum, who was upgraded from doubtful to questionable after rolling his ankle against the Kings on Monday, opening the door for another Phoenix win.
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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
