Phoenix Suns Have Tough Week Ahead
The Phoenix Suns have quite the week ahead of them with four games in the next seven days without superstar forward Kevin Durant, who will be re-evaluated in three weeks with a sprained ankle:
Monday March 13: AT Golden State Warriors (35-33)
The Suns begin a busy week with a road test against the Golden State Warriors, who stopped a three-game losing skid with an overtime win over the Milwaukee Bucks over the weekend. The Warriors have the second-best scoring offense in the league with 118.1 points averaged per night. Steph Curry and Klay Thompson are also No. 1 and No. 2 in the league for three-pointers made per night, respectively.
The Warriors are 2.5 games back from Phoenix's spot at No. 4 in the West. The Suns have beaten Golden State in their previous three meeting this season.
Tuesday March 14: Milwaukee Bucks (48-19)
Storylines galore here.
The Bucks have the best record in basketball and have won their last 19-of-21 games. This will be a rematch of the 2021 NBA Finals where Milwaukee overcame a 2-0 deficit to win the series in six games.
The presence of MVP candidate Giannis Antetokounmpo (31.2 points, 11.9 rebounds and 5.5 assists per night) is always notable, but fans will be tuning in to see the first game back in Phoenix for former Suns forward Jae Crowder, who sat out the season prior to being traded.
Crowder hit two clutch threes in the final minutes of Milwaukee's 104-101 win over Phoenix in their last matchup.
Both teams will be coming off the first night of a back-to-back from the previous day.
Thursday March 16: Orlando Magic (28-40)
After one of the toughest back-to-backs in the entire NBA season slate, the Suns get a day off and will look to bounce back at home against a struggling Magic team who have lost their last three-of-four games and last strung together two or more wins on Feb. 3-5.
The Magic have the third-worst record in the Eastern Conference but do feature potential Rookie of the Year winner Paolo Banchero. Orlando was victorious in their other meeting back in November in a 114-97 victory.
Sunday March 19: AT Oklahoma City (33-35)
The Suns wrap up their very busy week with a road game in Oklahoma City, a team that is only 4.5 games back from Phoenix. The Thunder are currently the West's No. 10 seed and are one of six teams who are separated by one game between seeds 7-12.
OKC has won their last five-of-six heading into this week, their lone loss coming against the Suns last week when Kevin Durant injured himself in pregame warmups. Durant won't play in this matchup against his former team, either.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander - considered to be one of the top young players in the league at 24 - is fourth in scoring with 31.2 points per night.
