The Phoenix Suns have been up-and-down all season, and the national media seemed to have moved on to the next interesting team — before this winning streak started, anyway. Now, after catching fire once more, the Suns are right back in the thick of the Western Conference race, and getting some love from the experts. Somewhat.
Bill Simmons of The Bill Simmons podcast gave the Suns some props on the most recent episode of his show, while also holding his horses:
They've been a great story, they've certainly surprised me. Their over / under was 31, I thought they'd go under. Their schedule is about to ramp up. They really haven't had to go to the East, I think at all... We'll see in January... They basically play all the good East teams in January, so we'll have... A little bit better feel."
That's a fair assesment... Sort of. This team has already beaten the Lakers, Warriors, Timberwolves (twice), and the Spurs. It's not like the Suns have beaten a bunch of scrubs and been stomped out by contenders. They are 7-9 against teams over .500, which is about what you'd expect from the No. 7 seed.
I think the Suns' East Coast trip in January will go about how their games against the West's best has gone; they stay competitive, go around .500, and hold steady in the standings (or maybe jump Denver, which will be without Jokic for at least four weeks).
Suns have the perfect recipe to be a playoff irritant
Currently sitting at No. 7 in the West, the Suns (19-13) aren't some fun story anymore. They're a competitive team with a superstar leading the charge and a collective chip on their shoulders from the disrespect they got in the offseason.
Plus, the aforementioned superstar is not playing up to his superstar standards. Devin Booker's play has gotten to the point where accounts on Twitter are posting his statlines with 100 crying emojis. That's a tad dramatic, of course, but Booker shooting under 30 percent from 3-point range is still a little jarring.
I choose to take the optimist's route on that story, though; the Suns have impressed without Devin Booker fully looking like Devin Booker. I don't believe Book has suddenly lost a step or magically forgotten how to shoot, so the team looking this good without him at full tilt is pretty encouraging for how they'll look when he does start shooting at his normal clip.
We're well over 30 percent of the way through the NBA season. We don't have to "wait and see" the Suns anymore. They're good!