{"id":686746,"date":"2026-03-29T21:29:15","date_gmt":"2026-03-29T21:29:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/686746\/"},"modified":"2026-03-29T21:29:15","modified_gmt":"2026-03-29T21:29:15","slug":"suns-chasing-top-six-playoff-berth-as-they-visit-grizzlies-field-level-media-professional-sports-content-solutions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/686746\/","title":{"rendered":"Suns chasing top-six playoff berth as they visit Grizzlies – Field Level Media – Professional sports content solutions"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Phoenix Suns remain in the hunt for one of the six guaranteed NBA Western Conference playoff spots as they embark on a grueling end-of-regular-season schedule.<\/p>\n

The Suns (41-33) will play six of their remaining eight regular season games on the road, starting with Monday\u2019s game in Memphis against the Grizzlies (25-49).<\/p>\n

Phoenix, in seventh place in the West, finds itself 3 1\/2 games behind the sixth-place Houston Rockets. Mathematically, the Suns could finish anywhere from third to sixth, although, realistically, moving into fifth-place, held by the Minnesota Timberwolves (45-29), or sixth, held by the Rockets (44-29) is more attainable.<\/p>\n

If the Suns are unable to improve their position, they are guaranteed a spot in the four-team play-in tournament.<\/p>\n

The scenario makes for an interesting final two weeks.<\/p>\n

After playing road back-to-backs at Memphis and Orlando, the Suns travel to Charlotte to play the Hornets on Thursday and to Chicago to play the Bulls on April 5. <\/p>\n

Back-to-back home games against the Rockets (April 7) and the Dallas Mavericks (April 8) break up the road swing, which concludes with challenges against the Los Angeles Lakers on April 10 and Oklahoma City Thunder on April 12.<\/p>\n

The Suns are hoping they have recovered from a mid-March five-game losing streak by winning two of their past three games, including Saturday\u2019s 134-109 victory over the visiting Utah Jazz.<\/p>\n

In the win, Jalen Green scored 31 points on 13 of 22 shooting. He was 5-for-11 from long range and added six rebounds.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy defense got my energy going,\u201d Green said. \u201cIt always starts with defense. I keep saying we can score how many (points) we want with our defense. Our defense fuels us.\u201d<\/p>\n

Suns guard Grayson Allen said it was difficult enduring the recent losing streak, but said \u201cin most of (those) games we put ourselves in position to win the game.\u201d<\/p>\n

Memphis snapped a five-game losing streak Saturday by surviving against the Bulls in the closing minutes. Cedric Coward made two free throws with 6.5 seconds left to give the Grizzlies a three-point lead. After the Bulls got two free throws from Josh Giddey with 4.0 seconds to go, Chicago stole the inbounds pass but Collin Sexton\u2019s game-winning layup came after the buzzer.<\/p>\n

\u201cCedric plays with a lot of poise,\u201d said Memphis coach Tuomas Iisalo. \u201cHe has a rare quality for a (wing) player. He can go to the post and create out of there. Overall, I thought we played with a lot of poise down the stretch.\u201d<\/p>\n

Coward had his best game since returning from a three-game absence due to personal reasons. Coward finished with 24 points and nine rebounds and was 10 of 19 shooting.<\/p>\n

\u201cRight now, he\u2019s a featured guy,\u201d Iisalo said. \u201cWhen you look at our roster, he\u2019s the featured guy, and teams put a lot more emphasis on stopping him. I think he\u2019s done a great job letting the game come to him.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Grizzlies had lost 13 of their previous 14 games before defeating the Bulls. Playing without five key rotation members \u2014 including Ty Jerome (ankle), Cam Spencer (back) and Jaylen Wells (big toe) \u2014 Memphis withstood Chicago\u2019s rallies with a roster that listed three players on 10-day contracts and one, Adama Bal, making his NBA debut.<\/p>\n

After meeting the Suns on Monday, the Grizzlies play two more home games (Wednesday against New York and Friday against Toronto) to end their current six-game homestand.<\/p>\n

\u2013Field Level Media<\/p>\n

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