Despite losing five of their last six games, the Phoenix Suns still have a lot to feel good about as we near the quarter mark of the regular season. They're above .500 and would be in an even better spot if not for untimely injuries to both Kevin Durant and Bradley Beal.
Both All-Stars are now back for the organization, although that still couldn't stop them losing to the Brooklyn Nets. A contest in which the Suns let a player most had never heard of hang 30 points on them. Those days will happen, it just can't happen again for the rest of the campaign.
The NBA's scheduling quirks aren't helping the team either.
Prior to that Nets loss, the Suns had beaten the Los Angeles Lakers the previous night in an Emirates NBA Cup game. This marked the return of both Durant and Beal - and if we're looking for even more reasons for optimism - the team are still in with a chance for qualifying for the knockout round of that competition as well.
Yet before that back-to-back, the Suns had had five days off. On the one hand this was great as it allowed the team to get some valuable rest and practice time together, and to ensure two of their best three players would be good to go for the Lakers game.
Having lost five straight prior to the time off, it was the ideal moment for head coach Mike Budenholzer to hit reset for the group. But as Grayson Allen explained to the media ahead of their upcoming tilt against the Golden State Warriors in the NBA Cup that the team were tired during the loss to the Nets.
"Everything is a first now."
— Duane Rankin (@DuaneRankin) November 29, 2024
Grayson Allen on spending his 1st #Thanksgiving with his newborn daughter.
Allen said the Suns "played tired" in Wednesday's loss to Brooklyn in the 2nd of a back-to-back after beating the Lakers by 27 points. #Suns pic.twitter.com/WjLhtZqpAs
Teams are going to have spells during a long season when they don't have it and drop games, that's part of the grind. But the Suns have a whopping 12 back-to-backs left to play this season, and these will happen across a 64 game span. Surely the franchise would have preferred to not have five days off, and instead more evenly distribute all of these games?
As it is the Suns are struggling to deal with the volume of games, with Beal again questionable for the Warriors game having tweaked his ankle versus the Nets. You might argue that this is just who Beal is now, and it was the same last season when he was limited to just 53 regular season outings.
Warriors big Kevon Looney on facing Suns for first time this season, and if Kevin Durant, Devin Booker, and Bradley Beal (QUESTIONABLE, left calf injury management) are on the floor together.
— DANA (@iam_DanaScott) November 30, 2024
“Those three are great one-on-one scorers and it’s gonna put a lot of pressure on us.” pic.twitter.com/OkrODoS64s
If that's the case, then having a 31-year-old unable to deal with the schedule does not bode well if you're trying to win a championship. As it is just getting to the playoffs in one spot looks a tall order. That's what happened to Allen last season - after having a career year - an ankle injury meant he appeared in only two postseason games against the Minnesota Timberwolves.
There's no fix for this one - other than coach Budenholzer perhaps opening up his rotation some - and the Suns need to get as many wins on the board as possible. Everything seemed a lot more straightforward when they started out 8-1, but we're a long way from that now and the games are going to come more rapidly between now and April.