Suns Can Finally Put the Past Behind Them

The Phoenix Suns 107-105 thrilling victory on opening night against the Dallas Mavericks means more than any ordinary win.

After a franchise record 64 wins season last year, the Suns lost a heartbreaking seven-game series to the Mavericks in the second round of the playoffs. The Suns not only lost but got blown out in Game 7 on their homecourt by 33 points.

As a result of this humiliating loss, the Suns became the laughing stock of the league this summer. A narrative started to form that the Suns were not as great as some may have originally thought, and the rest of the drama through the summer didn't help either.

Low and behold, the Suns were set to play the Mavericks on opening night. Despite a whole summer to think about the loss, the Suns came out flat right out of the gate trailing by as many as 21 points in the first half.

However in the second half, the Suns came out with a new fire and showed a sense of grit and determination, the Suns clawed their way back to shock the Mavericks and the rest of the NBA world.

The Suns can now focus on primarily winning basketball games instead of the criticism that has been sprung on them since losing to the Mavericks on May 15.

While last year's loss in the playoffs should surely not be forgotten, the Suns proved on Wednesday that they are a mentally stronger team and have made the necessary adjustments to learn from their mistakes.

“Book [Devin Booker] was really good in the huddles even when we were down 15,” Suns coach Monty Williams said following the win.

“I didn’t hear it, but I heard that he got the guys together and told them, ‘this is nothing,’ but we got to stay here. We’ve been talking about that all of training camp, like how can we deal with the emotional ups and downs of the game. I thought that helped us win the game tonight; we just stayed with it.”

It may only be the first of a long 82 game season, but Wednesday provided a statement win the Suns can use moving forward.

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