The Phoenix Suns have a favorable conference slate

The Phoenix Suns’ 2018-19 schedule has been released. Let’s take a look at which teams they play more and which teams they play less.

There are 82 games in an NBA season. Every team will play two games (one home and one away) against each team from the opposite conference. That amounts to 30 games, leaving 52 conference games still to be played against 14 teams.

Unfortunately, 52 isn’t divisible by 14, so there isn’t an equal amount of games played against each in-conference team. After it all shakes out, they’ll play ten of the teams four times and the other four teams only three times.

The teams they play four times are Golden State, Oklahoma City, Utah, New Orleans, San Antonio, Denver, Los Angeles Clippers, Los Angeles Lakers, Sacramento, and Dallas.

The teams they play three times are Houston, Portland, Minnesota, and Memphis.

Playing Memphis three times isn’t exactly a reward. With an aging roster, two constantly injured team leaders, and a lack of talent throughout, every game against the Grizzlies is winnable. They’re a team the Suns wouldn’t mind playing a fourth time.

Minnesota was a playoff team last year, but it’s hard to say how good they’ll be this year. They were at one point third in the West, but they didn’t clinch the playoffs until the very last day of the season, and all three of their most important players are discontent with their situations.

Karl-Antony Towns is unhappy with management. Jimmy Butler is unhappy with Karl-Anthony Towns. Andrew Wiggins is unhappy with the fact that he’s far worse at basketball than Jimmy Butler and Karl-Anthony Towns. It’s a whole mess.

Portland ended last season on fire and grabbed the three seed only to get swept by New Orleans in the first round. There’s trade speculation around their two best players, and it’s possible they get left out of the crowded Western Conference playoffs this season.

Both Minnesota and Portland are filled with question marks. They could be the three and four seeds. They could miss the playoffs. It won’t be clear until further along in the season whether it’s a good thing or bad thing to play them just three times each.

As for Houston, they’re not expected to be as good as last year after losing some of their most important role players. But they’re still a top two team in the West, and the Suns are definitely lucky to only have to play them three times.

Overall, this is good news for the Phoenix Suns. Houston, Minnesota, and Portland are all tough wins, and even Memphis can be pretty good when healthy. Most importantly, they get to play Dallas and Sacramento four times.