After enduring a soul-crushing loss to the Sacramento Kings four weeks ago, somebody broke into every office at the Phoenix Suns practice facility, found all the dictionaries, and ripped out every page with the word “lose” written on it.
Since then, the Suns have forgotten the term entirely, only knowing one way to end their games: with a dub.
Having now won nine straight contests, Phoenix resembles the league’s most dangerous team, with exception only to the Golden State Warriors, who just bullied the title-favorited Brooklyn Nets.
On their home floor, Phoenix rolled the Cleveland Cavaliers, New Orleans Pelicans, Houston Rockets, and Atlanta Hawks to begin November. After that, they laid siege on Sacramento, and took their revenge against the Kings. The Suns then returned home to take down the Portland Trail Blazers before hitting the road once more, where they slayed the Memphis Grizzlies, Houston Rockets again, and the Minnesota Timberwolves.
This uptick for Phoenix even rivals their legendary stretch within the NBA’s “bubble” restart, where they won eight straight games under Monty Williams. With that excitement and the team’s returning poise from last year meshing together, the Suns look primed for yet another successful season.
But this turnaround did not just come from nowhere. After stumbling into a 1-3 start, capsulated by the loss against Sacramento, the Suns looked themselves in the mirror, and noticed their flaws which needed fixing.
To illustrate how they flipped themselves from a group which still looked hungover from the year prior into a true title threat, look no further than these three factors.