Marcio Jose Sanchez/Associated Press
Last Week’s Rankings: 2nd
Phoenix has been one of the best teams all season and has come on strong lately. The Suns have won 11 of their last 13 games and built a little cushion as the No. 2 seed in the Western Conference. The Suns finished the week with a ba loss to the Spurs. What made that loss particularly painful was that it was an opportunity to pull within half a game of the Jazz and the best record in the NBA.
This team has just about everything one could ask for. Devin Booker is its go-to scorer. Deandre Ayton is a double-double machine with 30 of them this season. Chris Paul is the maestro pulling all the right strings, and when it is needed, he pulls out his mid-range game to help close games. The Suns are getting key contributions from Mikal Bridges, Jae Crowder, Cameron Payne and Dario Saric. And in the end, they are well-coached by Monty Williams.
That loss to the Spurs might be a case of the team looking ahead at its upcoming road trip. Next week will start a five-game East Coast trip against some of the best. Stops in Milwaukee, Philadelphia, Boston, Brooklyn and New York will test the Suns. Taking their eyes off the ball is why the Suns dropped a spot.