Bright Side Baller: The Phoenix Suns playoff hopes are slipping into the grave

Devin Booker keeps scoring but the Suns keep losing.

I’m scared.

I’m hiding under my covers, sheepishly peeking out like Haley Joel Osment in The Sixth Sense, because yes…I think I see dead people. Only, they’re wearing Phoenix Suns jerseys and standing in the corner like forgotten spirits from better basketball days.

What I saw on Sunday in Madison Square Garden as the Suns lost 112-98 wasn’t just another bad game. It was a bleak reminder of what this Phoenix Suns team becomes when Devin Booker has to play soloist in a band of backup dancers. No rhythm. No harmony. Just one man with a mic and no amp.

And yet, somehow, there are still people — chronically online commenters with Wi-Fi and bad vibes — who want to pin the 2024-25 Suns’ failures on Kevin Durant. They say his arrival derailed the franchise’s long-term vision, shifted the timeline, shook the chemistry. Maybe they’re not entirely wrong. But if you want to see what this team looks like without him? Buckle up. It’s a horror show.

When Durant plays, the Suns are 33–29. Not spectacular, but competitive. A 44-win pace. You can work with that. You can build from that. When he doesn’t? They’re 2–14. That’s a 10–72 pace.

This team without Durant is offensively bankrupt. No ball movement. No flow. No second options. Booker tries to carry the whole damn load like Atlas with a busted back, and all the youthful energy around him means nothing when it doesn’t translate to points on the scoreboard.

And then there’s the context. The cruel, inevitable context. Sacramento just beat Cleveland. The Suns, with four games left, now have to make up three games just to stumble into the Play-In like a drunk guy trying to find his Uber.

So yeah. I’m scared. Because I see dead people. And it’s not just a season circling the drain. It’s the whole damn dream.

Bright Side Baller Season Standings

Booker won it for his efforts on Friday night against the Celtics. But did anyone really win?

Bright Side Baller Nominees

Devin Booker

40 points (16-of-29, 2-of-7 3PT), 4 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 steal, 4 turnovers, -9 +/-

Bradley Beal

16 points (8-of-19, 0-of-5 3PT), 2 rebounds, 2 assists, 4 steals, 2 turnovers, 2 blocks, -12 +/-

Grayson Allen

15 points (4-of-13, 0-of-6 3PT), 6 rebounds, 1 assist, 2 turnovers, -4 +/-

Oso Ighodaro

8 points (4-of-4), 3 rebounds, 3 assists, -11 +/-

Ryan Dunn

4 points (2-of-7, 0-of-4 3PT), 8 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal, 2 turnovers, +5 +/-

Royce O’Neale

5 points (2-of-6, 1-of-5 3PT), 2 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 turnover, -11 +/-

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Voting time…

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