PHOENIX — The Phoenix Suns moved back down to the No. 11 seed after the Dallas Mavericks and Sacramento Kings each won on Thursday. Ahead of their matchup against the Minnesota Timberwolves Friday, each game is becoming more and more important to Phoenix’s play-in hopes.
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!Four consecutive wins moved the Suns up to the ninth seed temporarily until the defending champion Boston Celtics strolled into Phoenix and whipped them back to reality. Now, Phoenix sits 0.5 games behind Dallas (36-38) for the final spot in the West Play-In with everything seemingly going against them.
Not only have the Mavericks been able to keep pace with their West foes while trudging through injuries to many of their best players, but they still sit in the play-in with star center Anthony Davis returning to the lineup for the rest of the season.
Phoenix entered its most difficult 10-game stretch of the season knowing its play-in hopes were at stake. It responded with massive wins over the Milwaukee Bucks and Cleveland Cavaliers before falling to the Celtics. Even their biggest wins of the season couldn’t keep the Suns afloat in this deep, competitive Western Conference.
Moving forward, every game is more crucial than the last and the latter half of this 10-game gauntlet appears to me more difficult than the former — what with games against Milwaukee and Boston again (on the road) and home matchups against Houston, Oklahoma City and Golden State.
Before you know it, Phoenix could be too far behind the Mavs and Kings for playoff contention.
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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
