Suns Potentially Saved Season vs Clippers

PHOENIX -- The Phoenix Suns potentially have life.

This is something that was hard to conceive just a handful of days ago - but a recent string of unfortunate events that piled up on the Dallas Mavericks and a recent skid from the Los Angeles Clippers has opened the door for the Suns to have a chance to make the play-in tournament.

Phoenix began the pursuit last night with a dramatic comeback victory over the Clippers in a game where they looked completely defeated for nearly 2 entire periods of action.

The victory got the Suns within 3.5 games of L.A. and within three of Dallas - but more importantly, it could be the one that sets the foundation for the final month of the season.

Yes, the Suns do have the toughest remaining strength of schedule. Yes, the Suns have to prove that they can consistently hang with the best of the best in the league. Yes, the Spurs have a significantly lighter schedule to close the season.

None of that matters now.

The Suns control their own fate now - that starts by defeating the Denver Nuggets on the road Friday night and taking down the Dallas Mavericks in front of a national audience on Sunday afternoon. If the Suns can carry a three-game win streak, they will be within striking distance of accomplishing what was unthinkable not too far in the past.

They will then close out the road trip against two mightily struggling Western Conference playoff teams in the Memphis Grizzlies and Houston Rockets - the Suns could take advantage of the position the two teams are in if they can create more positive momentum.

They then will get games against the Sacramento Kings, Toronto Raptors, and Chicago Bulls - three contests they absolutely must take to brace for the final three-week stretch that features only one team that is below .500 on the docket.

Some brief notes from the game that possibly gave the Suns life moving forward:

Collin Gillespie was quite possibly the difference between a win and a loss. The two-way guard was an absurd +21 in just 15 minutes of action and hit a crucial three-ball to put Phoenix up by two possessions with 36 seconds remaining in the game.

Devin Booker had far from his most impactful scoring night, but more than made up for it with his playmaking display in the final frame - the superstar guard generated four assists across the final 12 minutes. Three of the assists were kick-outs to shooters and the final one was a wonderful wrap-around pass to Nick Richards in the dunker spot. All-in-all, Booker had an amazing night as a facilitator.

Mason Plumlee had quite the night in a revenge game against his former team - the center has spent much of the season struggling, but he was arguably the most crucial role player last night outside of Gillespie.

Ryan Dunn logged a DNP last night - that is not a strong sign for those who are proponents of the rookie receiving playing time moving forward.

Ivica Zubac's 35-point, 10-rebound contest was his second consecutive high-level showing against the Suns - the pattern of bigs having massive performances against the Phoenix back-line is certainly a point of concern going into Friday night's matchup with Nikola Jokic.

The Suns look reinvigorated, the role players had their most impactful collective showing in weeks, and it seems as if the team is motivated to fight and salvage what appeared to be a lost season.

The final 20 games should be extraordinarily fascinating - only time will tell if this win propels them to the playoffs.