Suns Continue Falling Across New NBA Power Rankings

The Phoenix Suns have just four regular season matchups on deck, and after an up-and-down regular season they're ready for some sort of playoff basketball.

While that very much projects to be the play-in tournament, the Suns still are clinging on to a small hope they'll be able to squeeze themselves into the West's top six.

Yet in the world of NBA power rankings, they do continue to drop in their respective placements:

NBA.com: No. 13 (12th last week)

John Schuhmann: Dillon Brooks and Mark Williams returned from extended absences last week, but the Suns went 1-2 in Brooks’ three games back and are just 4-8 over the last 24 days. They’re almost a lock to finish seventh in the West and host the 7-8 Play-In game. ... The Suns still need two more wins (or help from the Clippers’ opponents) to clinch seventh place, and up next is a visit from the Rockets on Tuesday. They’re 0-3 against Houston, even though they had 24 more shot opportunities than the Rockets in the December meeting. The Suns have scored just a point per possession (their worst mark vs. any opponent) over the three games, and were without Jalen Green for all three. So this will be his first game against his former team."

Our take: Jalen Green's first taste of action against the Rockets should be fun, though Houston is still favored. Phoenix, in total, simply wanted to get healthy as the end of the regular season rolled around and thus far they've been able to do just that.

The Athletic: 17th (14th last week)

Law Murray: "The Suns are certainly wheezing a bit, losing eight of their last 12 games. But I expected the Suns to be dreadful. Jordan Ott has been magnificent on so many levels, but the primary one is that he got this team to play hard and defend at a top-10 level. There aren’t and weren’t that many resources for the Suns to be better this season, but having an identity around disruptive defense and heavy doses of 3-point attempts has been enough to secure a winning season. We’ll see if it is good enough to survive the Play-In, but this season was an unexpected success for Phoenix anyway you look at it."

Our take: Murray hits the nail on the head here: Phoenix's season should be celebrated regardless of the outcome past the regular season, as Ott has done an incredible job with the roster in his first year leading the way. While he might not win coach of the year, he should certainly be mentioned in those discussions.