When plans for the National Basketball Association鈥檚 campus environment were being formulated, not a few quarters criticized the Suns鈥 inclusion in the mix. The concerns weren鈥檛 unfounded, to be sure; when the 2019-20 season was suspended in mid-March, stalwarts of the purple and orange were fresh off losses in five of their last seven contests. And, at 26 and 39, they faced the near-Sisyphean task of winning every single one of their eight seeding games just to move up from 13th in the conference and force sudden death for the last spot in the playoffs.
Fast forward a month into the league鈥檚 restart, and the Suns have clearly underscored that they belong in the bubble. They鈥檙e a perfect six of six heading into today鈥檚 match against the Sixers, with their run of success catapulting them past the now-eliminated Pelicans and Kings and putting them smack dab in the middle of a four-way battle for the final postseason berth. And, for all their failings prior to the shutdown, their recent string of triumphs is no fluke. They鈥檝e been the best by far of the 22 teams quartered in Walt Disney World, no easy feat in light of the odds and the ease with which they could have instead coasted.
Considering the Suns鈥 scorching-hot showing, its no surprise that the naysayers have come and gone. Conventional wisdom pegged them as mere fodder, and an unnecessary one at worst 鈥 avoidable threats to health and safety protocols for a setup perennially in danger of being breached. Instead, they鈥檝e emerged as first among equals of the tournament within a tournament. And, significantly, they remain as grounded as they were in the beginning. 鈥淲e haven鈥檛 accomplished anything,鈥 insisted head coach Monty Williams in the aftermath of their victory against the Thunder yesterday. 鈥淓verybody is trying to get to the playoffs, and we鈥檝e just said we鈥檙e going to take it one step at a time.鈥
In short, the Suns are being smart first and foremost, pushing themselves to excel at factors they can control and not wasting time on those they can鈥檛. Else, they would have been overwhelmed by the extent of the work facing them. Even now, there鈥檚 no guarantee they鈥檒l be part of the play-in series; the Grizzlies, Blazers, and Spurs are lockstep with them in battle, bent on giving no quarters en route. Which is why they鈥檙e fine with any outcome for as long as they managed to do their best; there鈥檚 nothing else they can do but make the most of the opportunities given them.
Indeed, doing so has been a crucial ingredient to the Suns鈥 ascent. They鈥檝e prevailed against handicapped opposition: the Wizards without Bradley Beal and Davis Bertrand; the Clippers without Montrezl Harrell; the Heat without Jimmy Butler and Goran Dragic; and the Thunder without Dennis Shroder, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Danilo Gallinari, and Steven Adams. And, today, they鈥檒l be taking to the court versus the Joel Embiid- and Ben Simmons-less Sixers. Of course, being handed chances is one thing, and taking advantage of them is quite another.
At this point, it鈥檚 anybody鈥檚 guess as to where the Suns will be at the end of their 2019-20 campaign. How they鈥檙e finishing it is clear, in any case: with their heads held high and all too aware of their bright future.
Anthony L. Cuaycong has been writing Courtside since 大象传媒 introduced a Sports section in 1994. He is a consultant on strategic planning, operations and Human Resources management, corporate communications, and business development.
