Phoenix Suns have taken down two of the best teams in the league rather easily
The Phoenix Suns finished with a 51-21 record this year, second-best in the Western Conference and in the entire league. They were an excellent team during the regular season, as were both the Los Angeles Lakers and the Denver Nuggets.
The Lakers were the 7-seed in the Western Conference this year and had to fight for their playoff spot in the play-in tournament this year since LeBron James and Anthony Davis both missed over a month with separate injuries. Fully healthy, this Lakers team was one of the best teams in the league and they were the defending champions entering the postseason this year.
With Chris Paul being dinged up, the Suns had some struggles early on in this series, but overall, Phoenix handled them fairly well and disposed of them rather quickly when they settled down into games. The two games Phoenix lost to the Lakers in the first-round was in large part because of Chris Paul’s injured shoulder and him not being able to make much of a difference scoring and passing. As his shoulder started to get better though, so did his play, which helped elevate the Suns to some blowout wins late in the series against the Lakers.
The Nuggets were the 3-seed in the playoffs this year after posting a 47-25 regular season record. Losing Jamal Murray in April greatly affect the Nuggets’ chances to potentially contend for a championship this year, but nonetheless, they entered their series against the Phoenix Suns winning 17 of their last 24 games, including their series against the Portland Trail Blazers, without Jamal Murray.
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Denver was playing some great basketball entering this Western Conference Semifinals series against the Suns, yet Phoenix steamrolled them. The Suns swept the Nuggets 4-0 in this series and did not seem to be stressed one bit.
Both Los Angeles and Denver were two of the best teams in the entire league, yet the Phoenix Suns handled both of them quite easily, resulting in them awaiting their next potential victim in the Western Conference Finals.
Very few teams have been able to beat the Suns at full strength this season and given how well they are playing right now, it is hard to imagine them losing a seven game series. They are so extremely balanced on both ends of the court and even though they are one of the best teams in the league, they still have that “underdog” mentality to them, which is why they are the team to beat right now.
Everybody views the Suns as having “nothing to lose” in these playoffs and while they are focused on the ultimate goal of winning a championship, they just have this sense of calmness to them that makes them look like they are just going out and having fun on the court. There is no sense of worry or tightness from the Suns in this postseason, which is why they should be the favorites to lift the Larry O’Brien Championship Trophy this year.
