The Phoenix Suns moved to 5-1 on this still young season Saturday night, with a 103-97 victory over the Portland Trail Blazers that ended up being a lot closer than it should have. With the Suns' single loss to this point against the Los Angeles Lakers, they're emerging early as a top team out West.
They're also well on course to shatter our own predictions for how they would finish the regular season, and have a 10 deep roster that has managed to absorb Bradley Beal missing a few games already through an elbow issue that hopefully won't keep him out too much longer.
They also appear to have solved a problem that plagued them before.
The Suns were up by as many as 26 against thge Trail Blazers - with former center Deandre Ayton finishing with a paltry 13 boards and 10 points - before letting that lead dwindle to as many as two points. They managed to grind out the win, but that wasn't the case last season.
It is a credit to head coach Mike Budenholzer that this team is now beginning to come out on the right side of games like this, because that was not the case last season. There were many times when they'd be up big in a game, before reverting back to isolation ball and go on to lose against all manner of opponents.
Heart. Hustle. Hoops. pic.twitter.com/wUwiREvorU
— Phoenix Suns (@Suns) November 3, 2024
That was also the case in the loss to the Lakers this season - they had a 22 point lead in the second-quarter before throwing it away - so they have not completely wiped these bad habits out. But the main thing is that they get the victory - and although it is a bad sign that a rebuilding group like the Trail Blazers can come all the way back - seeing it out shows a stronger mentality than before.
Even better, the way they're building leads and mostly closing them out against good Western Conference opponents bodes well for the rest of the season. On top of that, they also managed to come back from a large deficit against the L.A. Clippers, showing they can also fight back when down early as well.
The Suns aren't going to win every game from here on out, and you can bet there are going to be some ugly losses as the season develops too. But to already have established this mentality - while bringing in a new point guard in Tyus Jones and a rookie in Dunn no less - is flying under the radar with how impressive it is.
Both Devin Booker and Kevin Durant have also taken turns being the leading scorers, with the other happy to fill in behind on any given night. To be working in tandem to not let games slip away like they did last season - while continuing to let it fly from deep more than in year one with them as the top two players - is reason for real optimism in The Valley as we roll into November.