The Suns proved their journey at the NBA Finals last season wasn’t smooth with a 16-game winning streak
Last season’s NBA Finals was a pivotal moment for the Phoenix Suns. This is only the franchise’s third appearance in a series of championships, and the first since 1993.
While the players, led by their trailing duo Chris Paul and Devin Booker, along with head coach Monty Williams have been praised for their achievement, there are plenty of people who say they have caught them. get ‘lightning in a bottle’ or the fact that the Suns, in every round of the Western Conference, face teams severely disabled by injury.
Now, both of those points are correct. In a 2020-21 season that was cut short when many teams, including those considered as contenders, were forced through injury or multiple games postponed, the Suns had a healthy squad for most of the season. tournament and is only affected for a week ‘game postponed’.
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That said, Phoenix responded strongly to all of those protestors with a strong start to the season. By surviving a belated surge from the Nets, on the second night of the confrontation, the Suns extended their winning streak to 16 – the second-longest in franchise history.
The key to stabilizing the lineup to improve gameplay
Last season, the Sun was one of only three teams to rank in Top 10 for offense rating (7th) and defense (6th). This season so far, The Suns have improved the rankings.
After Saturday night’s game, Phoenix is ranked Friday in terms of attack efficiency and third in terms of defensive effectiveness, making them one of only two teams (Golden State Warriors) to place in the top six in both categories.
They brought in the bulk of the roster from last season with their only additions keeper Landry Shamet and JaVale McGee. The duo are averaging 17.3 points in 34.8 minutes per game off the bench at up to 50% performance.
The stability of the lineup has resulted in some phenomenal matches, as Sun ranked third in points per game and assists per game while ranked sixth with nine steals per game.
Of their 16 wins, it’s been evenly matched at home (8) and top (8).
Hunger more than Warriors
What is impressive is that the Suns started 17-3 despite Deandre Ayton missing six games and their reserve striker Dario Saric still sidelined with an ACL injury he sustained in the Finals. 2021. That said, despite all that they’ve achieved, there’s still room for skepticism.
The Suns are once again very lucky with their health this season and on top of that, they have played the easiest schedule in the league so far, according to powerrankings.com as of Nov 27.
However, those criticisms will also be quelled if the Suns win their next game at home after a couple of days off.
It was a matchup with the 17-2 Golden State Warriors leading the league with a chance to maintain the franchise’s longest winning streak at 17.
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