The NBA Cup is creeping up again and somehow, some way, the Phoenix Suns are back in the mix. They went 3-1 in group play in games half the world probably watched without realizing they were Cup games at all, or what the Cup is, or why Adam Silver woke up one morning and decided basketball needed a midseason tournament. Still, here we are. The Suns earned their seat at the table as one of the final four teams in the Western Conference headed to the knockout round.
That knockout round tips off next Wednesday, and the prize waiting for them is the Oklahoma City Thunder. The same Thunder that edged them by four points not long ago. A team with only one loss on its resume. That is no soft landing. If the Suns want to keep this early season pageantry alive, they are going to have to earn it the hard way.
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So how do they fare? That is the question we threw at the Suns community this past week. And like Ado Annie crooning to Will Parker out on the wide open plains of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Oklahoma!, the answer came back: All or nothing. Most of the voters see this ending in Oklahoma City with the lights going out early. 56% believe the Suns get bounced right away in the quarterfinals. The Cup, for them, a short ride and a sharp turn off the road.
But sliding into second place in the prediction pool at 26% is the Suns winning the whole dang thing.
If Phoenix somehow punches through Oklahoma City, if they become only the second team all season to solve that Thunder riddle that Portland already cracked, then who is to say this thing cannot snowball into something ridiculous?
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Beat OKC on Wednesday and the reward is a flight to Las Vegas, Nevada. Waiting there is the winner of Spurs versus Lakers. Handle business again and now it is a date with destiny in the NBA Cup Final on Tuesday, December 16.
And here is the hilarious part.
You win that NBA Cup final game and all you really get is a trophy and a hat. No tick in the win column. No standings boost. No auto-lottery pick. No golden ticket that lets you dodge a contender later in the year. Nothing like that. The incentive is pride, noise, and a pile of cash for the guys at the end of the bench who will absolutely take that check and smile doing it.
The task in front of Phoenix is steep. They are likely without Devin Booker. They are certainly without Jalen Green. Soft tissue injuries have taken the top two stars off the chessboard. That alone turns this into a grind. If the Suns fall to Oklahoma City, they still play on. They head to face the loser of Spurs versus Lakers on the road.
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So to everyone who rides hard for the NBA Cup, this is your moment. Stomp your feet. Bang the table. This is the spectacle you signed up for. The NBA Cup is here. Your team is in it. What more could you possibly ask for?