The Phoenix Suns found the win column late last night, but are in an obvious struggle with just a 14-12 record entering this week.
They’ve won just three of their last nine games and can’t stay healthy, especially when it comes to their stars.
As the Suns look to navigate another week of basketball, they’ve dropped in two major power rankings from NBA.com and Bleacher Report:
NBA.com: No. 17 (previously 14)
John Schuhmann: “In the one game all three guys were healthy (Wednesday), the Suns outscored the Nets by 12 points in 19.3 minutes with all three on the floor. But bench minutes were brutal, with Brooklyn going on a 19-0 run spanning the first and second quarters and an 18-6 run spanning the third and fourth. The Suns’ bench ranks 25th (and not close to 24th) in December.
“All three guys were healthy at the start of their game against the Knicks on Friday, and the Suns assigned Grayson Allen to defend Jalen Brunson, who eventually scored a career-high 50 points. Allen wasn’t the nearest defender for much of that and Josh Okogie wasn’t available, but there remains a question about who’s going to guard the opponents’ best perimeter scorer(s) come April and May.
“Without Beal on Sunday, the Suns came back from 16 points down to beat the Wizards. But they probably shouldn’t have been 16 points down against the Wizards and, with their losses to Brooklyn and New York, they’re now just 2-9 against (other) teams that currently have winning records. Those 11 total games against the top 19 teams in the league are two fewer than any other team has played.”
Bleacher Report: No. 10 (previously 7)
Andy Bailey: “The Brooklyn Nets spoiled the long-awaited debut of the Phoenix Suns’ trio of Devin Booker, Kevin Durant and Bradley Beal on Wednesday, but there were still some clear positives for Suns fans to take away from the game.
“When those three were on the floor for their 19 minutes (or 41 possessions) together, Phoenix outscored the Nets by 12 and put up 54 points with a 55.6 effective field-goal percentage.
“For their very first run together, those are solid marks on both ends of the floor.
“And while it may take some time to figure out a rotation that maximizes the minutes those three play together while also allowing the team to survive the rest of the minutes in a game, it’s still pretty easy to imagine this squad developing into a Tier 1 contender over the course of the season.”
Phoenix plays the Portland Trail Blazers on Tuesday.
