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The Phoenix Suns’ fate in the regular-season standings is looking set. Three games ahead of the Los Angeles Clippers in 8th and 3.5 back from the Houston Rockets in 6th with seven games to play, it’s looking like the Suns will be finishing in the seventh spot to end the regular season. Whether the Clippers stay in 8th or the Golden State Warriors or Portland Trail Blazers catch them, Phoenix looks like they’ll be hosting the 7/8 Western Conference play-in game.
If they win the Play-In game, they’ll face the two seed in the first round of the playoffs; if they lose it, they’ll host the winner of the 9/10 game, with the winner playing the one seed in the first round of the playoffs and the loser going home.
Out in the West, we know who the top two seeds will be—we just don’t know the order. The San Antonio Spurs sit 2.5 games behind the Oklahoma City Thunder for first place. Against both the Thunder and Spurs, Phoenix has had some of its best and worst performances of the season.
In arguably the Suns’ best win of the year, the team came back from down 18 to beat Oklahoma City, with Devin Booker hitting a game-winning three over two defenders.
Against the Spurs back in November, Phoenix held Wembanyama to a season-low nine points on 4-of-14 shooting and snapped San Antonio’s undefeated start to the season.
Conversely, in a knockout round of the In-Season Tournament, Oklahoma City gave the team its worst loss in franchise history, beating them by 49 points.
Back in February, the Spurs beat the Suns by 27 points, and less than two weeks ago ripped the hearts out of Phoenix fans when Victor Wembanyama hit a game-winning jumper with a second left after Phoenix had been leading for the majority of the game.
The Suns are 1–3 against Oklahoma City this season, with one more game against them, and they split the season series with the Spurs.
While Phoenix looks to have Mark Williams and Dillon Brooks back by the time the regular season ends, both San Antonio and Oklahoma City would be tough first-round matchups. The two teams have the best records in the NBA, and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Wembanyama are the favorites to win MVP.
Who would you rather the Suns play in the First Round, and why?