Suns have perfect opportunity to inflict hilarious embarrassment on Lakers

The Phoenix Suns have fallen out of the automatic playoff spots out West, but there is still time to fix that once they get fully healthy again.

In the meantime they are stilling winning games, with their 113-110 victory over the Los Angeles Lakers significant because of what it could do for their rival's playoff hopes.

Suns can dump Lakers into play-in at their expense

While the Suns are 34-26 and won their last game, with Deandre Ayton not exactly getting revenge in the process, the Lakers are 34-24 and have lost three straight.

They look like a group that is reeling, despite having Luka Doncic out there each night and continuing to get acceptable performances from LeBron James at his advanced age.

Helping the Lakers at this critical time is the fact they have the 11th easiest remaining schedule in the league, until you realize for the Suns it is even more straightforward.

Only six teams having an easier run-in, which could see the Suns swap positions with the Lakers and force them to take the play-in route.

If this seems unlikely, consider that the Suns just beat Los Angeles without their two best players in Devin Booker and Dillon Brooks.

Unlike their enemy from California, they are also getting career years out of role players such as Collin Gillespie, Grayson Allen and Royce O'Neale.

Contrast that with the Lakers, and although the Ayton struggles have been well documented, no other player outside of Doncic, James and Austin Reaves has really popped for them.

Doncic has been a thorn in the side of The Valley for years, so to inflict some misery on him makes chasing the sixth seed at their expense all the more appealing.

Then there is head coach Jordan Ott, who has unfairly come in for a lot of criticism for the Suns' struggles coming out of the All-Star break.

Yet JJ Redick is not talked about quite the same way, despite not having the level of coaching experience Ott has going back to his time with the Cleveland Cavaliers and, ironically, the Lakers.

Redick is a fine coach in his own right, but if Ott could get one over on him as well it would also strengthen a Coach of the Year case that should have more buzz.

Mostly though it is about beating the Lakers any way that they can, and making them have to sweat through the play-in tournament and likely get a tougher first round matchup would be amazing if the Suns could pull it off.