Are Suns Capable of Reaching NBA Finals?

The Phoenix Suns are one win away from advancing past the Los Angeles Clippers.

It's been easy by no means, but the Suns are up 3-1 and are likely to move past their divisional foes to get to the second round of play.

Despite the series record, not everyone has been impressed with Phoenix's play.

NBC's Kurt Helin - who initially picked Phoenix to win the conference - says maybe the Suns aren't the team to come out of the West:

"Along those lines, having watched the Suns in person for the last two games I’m having buyer’s remorse picking them to come out of the West (even if it was a “best of the bad options” pick). Devin Booker has been brilliant and Kevin Durant has been himself, and with that duo they can win any one game," said Helin.

"But Chris Paul has looked old for stretches and Deandre Ayton is, well, Deandre Ayton. Monty Williams is still trying to figure out what rotations work and, despite some solid counting stats from Torrey Craig, nothing has worked consistently. The Suns are still dangerous, but their struggles against a shorthanded Clippers squad that often outworks them and plays with more cohesion speaks to inconsistency and a lack of depth.

"The Suns simply do not look like a Finals team."

That's been a common belief among national basketball analysts, and to be fair, there is some merit to Helin's beliefs. The Suns simply haven't shown anything productive off the bench, and how far can Phoenix go with Durant and Booker playing over 40 minutes per game in each series?

Perhaps their greatest test will come in the next round against the Denver Nuggets, the West's No. 1 seed and are fairly strong from top to bottom. Should Phoenix move past them to get to the conference finals, it's hard to see any other team in the West stopping them from reaching the NBA Finals once again.

The Suns look to close their series out against the Clippers in Game 5, set to be played on Tuesday, April 25 at 7:00 PM PST.