Injury Luck or Not, Suns’ Start This Season is Impossible to Ignore

The Suns shouldn't be discredited because of who they have played so far.

Nov 18, 2025; Portland, Oregon, USA; Phoenix Suns forward Dillon Brooks (3) handles the ball against Portland Trail Blazers forward Deni Avdija (8) during the second half at Moda Center. Mandatory Credit: Soobum Im-Imagn Images | Soobum Im-Imagn Images

PHOENIX -- You can't control who the opponent is in front of you on a night-to-night basis, and the Phoenix Suns have faced some very fortunate injury luck over the last several games when it comes to who they're playing.

The Suns have played seven games in a row against teams missing either a key player or star and have also had the easiest strength of schedule en route to their 9-6 start to the year, according to ESPN.

Phoenix has won six of these past seven games, and these are the major injuries every team faced (not including players who have been out all season):

• 115-102 win over Clippers on Nov. 6 - James Harden and Kawhi Leonard out
• 114-103 win over Clippers on Nov. 8 - Kawhi Leonard out
• 121-98 win over Pelicans on Nov. 10 - Zion Williamson and Jordan Poole out
• 123-114 win over Mavericks on Nov. 12 - Anthony Davis and Dereck Lively II out
• 133-98 win over Pacers on Nov. 13 - Bennedict Mathurin and Obi Toppin out
• 124-122 loss to Hawks on Nov. 16 - Trae Young and Kristaps Porzingis out
• 127-110 win over Blazers on Nov. 18 - Jrue Holiday and Jerami Grant out

Don't Discredit Suns Because of Schedule So Far

Injuries are running rampant through the league right now, and the Suns have also been a victim to the injury bug with Jalen Green only playing one full game so far due to a right hamstring strain and multiple other starters including Dillon Brooks, Mark Williams and Grayson Allen missing a few games due to injuries.

There were several times the past couple seasons where the Suns would play down to their opponent and end up losing games they were favored heavily in, but this has not been the case so far this year.

Phoenix has not used Green's injury as an excuse and is finding ways to win without him, as the Suns are focusing more on who they are as a team and what they do best rather than trying to adapt to the team they are facing.

Across the NBA, some players will really step up when they get a bigger opportunity due to injuries, but for the most part, the Suns haven't let this affect the outcome of games and for themselves, have had Brooks, Allen and Royce O'Neale have career years so far because of the offensive opportunities with Green out.

As for the strength of schedule, the Suns are going to have to try to carry this momentum over to tougher opponents, as they have the most difficult remaining strength of schedule in the league.

Of the 10 teams in the NBA at the bottom of strength of schedule up until this point, all but two (No. 28 Dallas Mavericks, No. 22 Charlotte Hornets) have a winning record.

It doesn't seem like this is a talking point for some of the other teams having success, but it's easy to point to this for the Suns, who have only played four games against teams over .500 and are 1-3 in these contests.

As evidenced by this recent stretch, it has been a while since the Suns faced a "contender" at full strength, but the eye test and stats show that they are a good team so far and if anything, the last seven games have brought them more together and really helped shape their identity and figure out who they want to be as a team.

The Suns currently rank eighth in offensive rating (117.5) and 11th in defensive rating (112.6).

They will be tested the next 12 games with 11 of them being against teams currently with a winning record beginning with the Minnesota Timberwolves (9-5) at home Friday night.