The Phoenix Suns propped up the back end of the NBA's bumper slate of Christmas Day games, going head-to-head with a Denver Nuggets team they had only lost to a couple of nights previously. They got some measure of revenge in this one, as they ran out 110-100 winners.
A victory that put the organization back above .500, and coming against an opponent who went and added a player during the offseason who the Suns should have done a better job in trying to sign themselves. Devin Booker was again missing with a left groin strain, but thankfully on this occasion the team had enough firepower with Kevin Durant and Bradley Beal going for 27 points apiece.
The victory also snapped an ugly 16-year stat for the Suns.
Hard as it may be to believe - or not depending on how long you've been a fan for - but this was the Suns' first win on Christmas Day since 2009. There were two reasons for this, but the first is the more obvious of the two. In the last three games to take place on December 25th - with the Suns having appeared in all of them - they've gone up against teams who went all the way to the NBA Finals.
In 2021 it was a loss to the Golden State Warriors - who would win a championship at the end of that season - while in 2022 it was defeat to the Nuggets. They too went all the way in that campaign, landing the one and only championship of the Nikola Jokic era for Denver. Last year was only slightly different, as the Suns fell to Luka Doncic and the Dallas Mavericks.
KD and Bradley Beal combine for 54 to beat the Nuggets 🎁
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) December 26, 2024
Suns snap their 3-game losing streak 🤝 pic.twitter.com/4WPMVx3sCw
Again they made it all the way to the finals, but they couldn't get past the Boston Celtics. So ending that mini run of teams beating the Suns on Christmas and then going on deep runs themselves was a nice streak to break. Nobody wants to be on the receiving end of that.
The second reason this was the Suns' first victory on this day since 2009 is a lot more obvious if you really think about it. After that win over the L.A. Clippers and prior to the 2021 meeting with the Warriors, the Suns never played on Christmas Day. The reason? They weren't very good, and for some of that time were a rebuilding organization.
Even after the arrival of Booker, it was really only the NBA's bubble in 2020 when things started to change in The Valley. With Christmas reserved for the top talents to go head-to-head to promote the unofficial beginning of the NBA's season - from the perspective of the casual fan at least - it would make sense that the Suns didn't feature for a long time there.
Since the turn of the decade however, the likes of Durant, Beal and Chris Paul have called Phoenix home alongside Booker. So too have Deandre Ayton and Mikal Bridges, although depending on your opinions on those two they may not qualify as big enough draws to count. In a season that has had plenty of lows though, it was nice to break that streak, and build towards a brighter future.