Phoenix Suns trying to streak like the old days and win four straight

If the Phoenix Suns can beat the Pacers, Devin Booker will match the longest winning streak of his NBA career.

Prior to this year, there was one every season. There were 13 straight in early 2016, 13 straight again in 2017, 15 straight in 2018, and a team record 17 straight in 2019.  If it were a decade earlier, those numbers might reflect winning streaks of the seven-seconds-or-less Suns, but unfortunately, those are the losing streaks Devin Booker has endured as a member of the Phoenix Suns.

While Phoenix did drop eight straight in December of this season, that is a far cry from 17 or even 13. More importantly, the Suns are starting to play good basketball and can start a different kind of streak that Devin Booker has not experienced before, a real winning streak.

Winning streaks for the Phoenix Suns have been rare in recent years.

Once, back from December 13-19, 2018, the Suns did win four straight games. Prior to that, you must go back to 2014 to find a six-game winning streak, the year before Booker joined the club. Instead of lots of those winning streaks, Booker has endured the opposite, but that may be coming to an end.

The Washington Wizards were a team the Suns were supposed to beat, and they did, which is good because you must beat the teams you are better than. However, to advance in the NBA, you also must beat teams that are better than you. It is debatable if top to bottom the Dallas Mavericks are better than the Suns, although they have all-world point guard, Luka Doncic, running the show.

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However, there is no debate that the Clippers ARE a good team, and are expected to compete for the NBA crown. For the Suns to beat those three teams consecutively says something about the growth of Monty Williams’ team. To beat Dallas, the Suns had a huge third quarter and then found a way to hang on down the stretch. With the Clippers, after a big first half, Phoenix found a way to dig in and hang on in the second half and win the game.

This means the Phoenix Suns are learning how to win basketball games. After years of losing games down the stretch, maybe, just maybe, the Suns have figured out how to win. And while it was a BIG lift from Devin Booker, he also managed to get his teammates involved, like a big dish to Deandre Ayton for what should have been a three-point play late in the 4th. If Booker trusts his team to do their part, his amazing talent can help the team do the rest, like win the game on the last shot.

Maybe it is too soon to jump on the Suns’ bandwagon, but if they beat the Pacers in the next game, Booker and company will be heading into uncharted, but much-welcomed territory Saturday versus the Heat. After all those bad streaks, the Suns and Devin Booker are due a good one.