Phoenix Suns hope to continue solid play down the stretch

The Phoenix Suns want to finish the second half of the season on a high note. With five wins in their last seven games, they are off to a good start.

To say that the Phoenix Suns have not played well during the 2018-19 campaign would be a gross understatement. For starters, they began the season with eight losses in their first 10 games.

The team endured a 10-game losing streak from late November through mid-December. They also set a franchise record with a 17-game skid that spanned from Jan. 15 through Feb. 23.

From an offensive standpoint, the Suns are in the bottom third of the league in scoring, averaging 107 points per contest. Their 105.5 offensive rating places them at 27th. On the defensive end of the floor, Phoenix has the third-worst scoring defense in the league, giving up 115.9 points per contest and their 114.3 defensive rating is the second-worst mark in the NBA.

With all of that being said, the ball hasn’t bounced in the Suns’ favor this season and that trend continued coming into March as they were defeated 130-116 by a New Orleans Pelicans ball club that is more than likely out of the running for a postseason berth.

Since that loss, however, things have been trending in a positive direction for the squad that has one of the worse records in the association. Just 24 hours after that loss to New Orleans, the Suns began their reversal of bad fortune by notching a 118-109 win over the Los Angeles Lakers behind solid performances from Devin Booker (26 points, four rebounds and four assists) and Deandre Ayton (26 points, 10 rebounds, three assists and two steals).

For those of us who may be tempted to label the win over the Lakers as a fluke, the Suns quickly dispelled that notion by beating the best team in the league, the Milwaukee Bucks. After trailing by 11 points following the first 12 minutes of action, the Suns outscored their opponent by a 38-23 margin in the final frame en route to an improbable 114-105 win.

They held the Bucks to just 36.8 percent shooting and 28.6 percent from 3-point range. This is rather surprising considering that defense hasn’t been a calling card for the Suns this season. The Suns would go on to split their next two games, with an 11-point win against the New York Knicks followed by a seven-point loss to the Portland Trail Blazers.

The most impressive outing during the team’s recent stretch of success took place Sunday night against the Golden State Warriors — a team they had lost to 18 consecutive times. As was the case against the Bucks, the Suns found themselves down by double digits in the first quarter. Considering they were on the road against the defending champs, this had all the makings of another loss.

But Booker wasn’t going to let his team go down without a fight. He scored 17 in the final stanza, including 13 straight points for the Suns during a 16-4 run that helped Phoenix take a 109-98 lead with 3:19 left in regulation. Booker finished the evening with a stat line of 37 points (13-for-23 shooting), 11 dimes, eight boards and a pair of steals, enabling the Suns to come away with a 115-111 victory — their first win against the Dubs since November of 2014.

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"“You have every reason to come in and get blown out in this game,” fourth-year guard Tyler Johnson said, via the Arizona Republic. “So that shows a lot about the character of these guys and how it’s starting to evolve and understand that every single night we suit up, we have an opportunity to beat somebody.”"

True, the Suns are on their way to missing the playoffs for the ninth straight year. On the positive of the equation, the team wanted to finish strong coming out of the All-Star break.

Having won five of their last seven games, including three against playoff teams, it’s safe to say the Suns are off to a good start as far as reaching that goal is concerned.