Standings Watch: Where Suns Sit in Tough Western Conference

The Suns are set to face a huge test tonight.

Mar 29, 2024; Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, USA; Phoenix Suns guard Grayson Allen (8) dunks against the / Alonzo Adams-USA TODAY Sports

PHOENIX -- The Phoenix Suns are 43-31 on April 1st and have eight games left in an overall turbulent year that has left them in a precarious position in the final two weeks of the regular season.

The Suns are truly entering the "must-win" phase - and that begins tonight against the New Orleans Pelicans - a squad that has a two-game lead over Phoenix in the 6-seed spot out West.

We will look at the teams that are directly adjacent to Phoenix in the standings over the closing stretch of the season - squads such as the Los Angeles Clippers and Golden State Warriors are very unlikely to catch/be caught by the Suns.

Dallas Mavericks (No. 5 Seed)

It's very unlikely that the Suns can catch Dallas - they effectively trail the Mavericks by three games due to the head-to-head tiebreaker, but Dallas does play three different teams that are jockeying for play-in spots over the next week.

Dallas will get a pair of meetings with the Warriors along with one game each against the red-hot Houston Rockets and Atlanta Hawks riding high off of two victories against the Boston Celtics.

While it is unlikely that Dallas will cede the significant lead over the Suns, it isn't out of the question yet.

New Orleans Pelicans (No. 6 Seed)

The Pelicans are entering the most crucial week of their season with two matchups against the Suns, a rubber match with the Orlando Magic, and a singular game against the Victor Wembanyama-led San Antonio Spurs.

The Pelicans would lose the season series and thus the head-to-head tiebreaker to the Suns with a loss tonight. They could also lose possession of the number six seed in the West with a loss to the Magic and a Suns win on Wednesday night.

Sacramento Kings (No. 7 Seed)

The Kings have an extraordinarily difficult week ahead - while also being short of a duo of key guards in Kevin Huerter and Malik Monk for the stretch run.

The Kings' gauntlet this week will include the L.A. Clippers, New York Knicks, Boston Celtics, and Brooklyn Nets. A poor week of results could give the Suns an ultimate upper hand even before the matchup between the two teams on April 12.

Los Angeles Lakers (No. 9)

The Lakers have already won the season series against the Suns along with winning 6 of their last 7 games - the Suns have to watch out for L.A. over the last stretch of the regular season.

L.A. has two consecutive matchups against tanking teams in the Toronto Raptors and Washington Wizards on back-to-back days.

The Lakers then face off against the Cleveland Cavaliers and Minnesota Timberwolves to close the weekend out.

The Lakers are a real threat to jump Phoenix before the season finale on April 14 - as much as Suns fans would like to avoid this truth.