To get to the Play-In the Suns must rely on the backs of their stars
The Phoenix Suns, Sacramento Kings, and Dallas Mavericks are in a tight race for the final two spots in the NBA Play-In Tournament. All with eight or fewer games remaining, none of them have a firm grasp on either of the spots. The team that gets the ninth spot will host the 10 seed in a single-elimination game, with the winner playing the LOSER of the 7/8 game for a chance to be the eighth seed.
The Suns are a game back of the Kings for the tenth spot and one and a half out of the ninth spot. In their last 10, the team has played some of their best ball of the season, most notably beating the Cleveland Cavaliers and Milwaukee Bucks. The team has had Collin Gillespie and Ryan Dunn outperform their typical outputs in this stretch. However, for the team to have any chance to play past the regular season, Devin Booker and Kevin Durant need to play at the level they are capable of.
They’ve done it before, in more tense situations. Their 86 and 72-point outings in games three and four of the Western Conference Semi-Finals two seasons ago to lead the Suns to a 2-2 tie with the Nuggets after being down 2-0 are some of the best games teammates, let alone Suns teammates have ever had in NBA history.
Yes, the stakes are different from what they were when they went off in the playoffs, but both are still just as capable, as shown by the Slim Reaper’s player of the Week honors and Booker’s 41-point outing against the Chicago Bulls and his game-winner against the Bucks on Monday.
A theme throughout NBA history is that team success is the product of a squad’s best players playing their best. That’s why the Golden State Warriors in the mid-2010s were so unstoppable, the 2000s Los Angeles Lakers, and 1990s Bulls. Those teams had a bunch of great players. Durant and Booker are the Suns’ only great players. Additionally, the stakes are different; those teams competed for championships, whereas Phoenix is competing against other under .500 teams with injured rosters to make the Play-In. The duo has what it takes to get the Suns there, it’s just a matter of if they will.
The players for the Suns who have stepped up through their most recent stretch aren’t a guarantee to come up big like Kevin and Devin are, nor are they as capable. Yes, Booker had a scoreless first half last game against the Minnesota Timberwolves; that’s a rarity and caused surprise. It was just his 11th half of the season without registering points.
The duo has a great chance to will the Suns to a win tonight. At home but underdogs against the scorching hot Houston Rockets, Booker and Durant can bring the Suns to a tie in the win column with the Kings.
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