The team’s next four contests present them their best chance left to move up the standings and get back into the Play In bracket.
Looking at the Phoenix Suns’ next four games, the stretch appears to be their easiest slate for the rest of the season. Starting tonight, hosting the Sacramento Kings, the Suns will face a combination of struggling, injured, and poor teams until the competition ramps up against the Cleveland Cavaliers a week from today.
Domantas Sabonis remains on the injury list for the Kings. The star big man has been out since March 1. Even if he makes his return, the team is coming off a 130-104 loss to the Golden State Warriors last night that saw them play four of their starters 30 or more minutes. They’ve lost three straight and four of five. They’re currently three-and-a-half games ahead of the Suns in the standings in the ninth spot, and a win tonight could help the Suns creep closer to the play-in bracket.
On Sunday, the Suns are set to face the LeBron James-less Los Angeles Lakers at Crypto Arena. Since the King went down last Saturday, the purple and gold lost a close one to the Brooklyn Nets on Monday and another to the Milwaukee Bucks last night 126-106 despite Luka Dončić’s 45-point, 11-rebound outing.
The Lakers play the Denver Nuggets tonight in Denver, and their contest with the Suns will be their first home game in over a week. According to reports, James has returned to L.A. and is progressing from his groin injury well, but he’s not expected to play for at least another week.
On Monday, the Suns will face the Toronto Raptors. While the team did suffer a bruising defeat to them last month, the team still is one of the worst in the NBA. Toronto is 8-14 against the West this season and 1-8 against them on the road. The Suns have shown an ability to blow games like this, but it is more common for them to do it on the road. The Valley is 18-13 at home compared to 13-23 on the road.
The Suns will host the Chicago Bulls to end out the easy stretch. Chicago has won four straight, including an impressive, convincing win against the Indiana Pacers on Monday, but they remain 10 games under .500. Even worse than the Raptors, the Bulls are 5-15 when they play the West this season, and the Suns beat the Bulls last month.
While there is empirical evidence from this season that the Suns are capable of blowing all four of these games, let alone any of them, their next four look to be their easiest stand of their season and a light break before they face the Cavaliers, Milwaukee Bucks, and Boston Celtics all in five days.
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