Phoenix Suns: A 10-Game Stretch To Define The Season
As the Phoenix Suns — winners of four straight — prepare to take on the Sacramento Kings on Friday night from the Sleep Train Arena, there’s a renewed sense of hope emanating from head coach Jeff Hornacek‘s locker room. However, the Suns’ biggest task of the year lies directly ahead — a 10-game stretch that will define the season.
In a tough Western Conference, teams have to get wins however they can. While wins over the Dallas Mavericks feel great, they count just as many in the standings as a win over the lowly New York Knicks.
A GOOD LITMUS TEST
The next 10 games provide an opportunity for the Suns to gauge exactly where they stand among the NBA’s playoff landscape. Here are the games (and records of each team):
- at Kings (12-16)
- at Lakers (9-20)
- at Pelicans (14-14)
- at Thunder (14-16)
- vs. 76ers (4-23)
- vs. Raptors (22-7)
- at Bucks (14-15)
- at Timberwolves (5-22)
- at Spurs (18-12)
- at Grizzlies (21-7)
Once the final horn sounds against the Grizzlies, the Suns begin a stretch where they play 14 of their next 20 at home (including eight in a row). That’s why this 10-game stretch is so important — they have to hold serve so that the home stretch is a chance to distance themselves, instead of having to catch up.
If the Suns want to be taken seriously in the West, they have to do a couple of very important things. First, they must take care of business against the bottom-feeders. They’ve got the Lakers, Sixers and Wolves that are MUST wins.
Secondly, the Suns must break out of the middling pack that they’ve been stuck in. That means beating teams like the Kings, Pelicans and Bucks.
Last, the Suns have to produce some signature wins and will have a chance to do so against the Thunder, Raptors, Spurs and Grizzlies.
THE ROAD IS BUMPIER OUT WEST
On the season, the Suns are 9-7 on the road, with only Golden State (13), Chicago (13), Portland (11), Dallas (10) and Houston (10) securing more wins away from home. Having this stretch of away games isn’t something that intimidates the team. With that said, they’re 7-1 on the road against the East and just 2-6 on the road against the West. Of the eight road games, seven are against the NBA’s superior conference.
I recently wrote a piece detailing how the Suns are coming together as a unit and are showing signs of maturity and growth. A large part of that is becoming closer as a team, which is much easier on the road than at home. This stretch is more than wins and losses (though more of the former will do just fine), it’s about chemistry and team building.
Goran Dragic and Eric Bledsoe appear to be as close as ever, as evidenced by their playful banter in the locker room. Isaiah Thomas seems a bit happier with his role and is fitting in well in a three-guard lineup after having major style clashes earlier in the season. Alex Len is working his tail off and the team is following suit.
KEYS TO THE TRIP
The goal of this 10-game stretch is simple. Beat all of the bottom-feeders, take two of three from the middling teams and split the games against the elite competition. If the Suns go 7-3 during this stretch, they’ll find themselves at 23-17, in excellent position to take advantage of their long homestand.
For the season, the Suns have relied on finishing strong on the road. Where they’ve gotten worked in the first and third quarters (-2.4 and -3.0 points per game), they’ve made up for it in the second and fourth quarters (+1.1 and +4.4).
The Suns are shooting 47.4 percent from the field, 40.4 percent from the 3-point line and 82 percent from the foul line in the fourth quarter, while they allow just 40.1 percent from the field and 23.2 percent from the 3-point line.
It’s important in every game to win the fourth quarters, but on the road — against any team — the fourth is where games are won and lost.
This 10-game stretch is going to make or break the Suns season. If they stumble and find a way to lose seven or eight games, they’ll have to expend all of their energy just getting close in the playoff race.
For those that watched carefully last season, you remember how that usually turns out. The Suns laid an egg late in the season in Los Angeles, losing to both the Lakers and Clippers, before running out of gas and losing three straight (Spurs, Mavs, Grizzlies) to miss out on the playoffs by one game.
Those games at the end of the season should be about playoff seeding — not just sneaking in. How can the Suns ensure that? Take care of business now.