3 teams the Phoenix Suns have faced the least throughout NBA history

The Phoenix Suns might have never won an NBA Championship - and be the owners of this ugly stat in the process - but the road to glory has only gotten tough as the years have progressed. Not only are there more teams than ever at 30, but the Western Conference is as loaded as it has ever been.

With rumors continuing to swirl that the league will eventually add two more franchises to the mix - Las Vegas and Seattle make too much sense at this point - there will likely come a time in the next decade when the talent in the league dilutes a little bit. Which is just as well if you're a fan in The Valley.

But which rivals have the Suns faced the least since joining as an expansion team themselves in 1968?

The answer to that is actually a fun trip to take, with three (let's make it four) opponents who the Suns have faced less than anybody else. The drop-off is massive as well, with the team they've faced the most times (regular season and playoffs) those pesky Los Angeles Lakers at a whopping 336 occasions. Comparing that to number one on this list (55 games played), you see the difference.

3. Miami Heat (71 games)

As we will quickly see, there is going to be a strong element of Florida teams that appear on this list. The Miami Heat being the first, and reaching 71 games by virtue of the fact they were founded in 1988, although at this point they feel like they've been Pat Riley's baby forever.

Really though the Heat of LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh was something else. Four trips to the NBA Finals and a pair of championships at a time when the Suns were pretty good themselves. The last competent group the organization had before they fell off and rebuilt around Booker in fact.

What's interesting here isn't that the Suns have a 39-32 lead and are 6-4 in their last 10. Rather that they've hung an average of 109.3 points on the Heat across all of their meetings. Obviously the "seven seconds or less" Suns of earlier in this century played their part, but the truth is the Suns have just had offensive success against any iteration of the Miami Heat.

Even better the Heat have only managed to average 105.4 points against the Suns - which obviously explains why they're lagging behind in the all-time series - but it also shows that when relevant, the Suns are a tough out for anybody. A finals meeting between these two is by far the most likely to happen on this list.