Suns begin critical stretch against West Conference’s best teams

by Paola Boivin

By NICK SMITH
Cronkite News

PHOENIX –  The next two weeks will likely determine the playoff fate of the Phoenix Suns.

Tonight’s game against the New Orleans Pelicans begins a two-week gauntlet of sorts for the team.  After New Orleans, the Suns will take on Houston, Dallas, Sacramento, Portland, Oklahoma City, Portland again and finally Golden State on April 2. The Kings are the only one of those teams that isn’t firmly above .500 and in the playoff chase.

But head coach Jeff Hornacek seems to think that the pressure was turned up for his team long before now.

“It probably started a while ago,” said Hornacek, when asked about regular season games having a playoff-like intensity. “It’s getting to the point where we have to beat (New Orleans) twice, Oklahoma City once, and we’ve got to beat some of these other teams too.”

The intensity has been getting the best of the Suns recently. Since the beginning of February, the team has gone 7-12 as they have struggled to adjust to the roster shake-up that happened at the trade deadline.

“After the All-Star break, everybody pretty much locks in,” said Suns guard Eric Bledsoe. “This point in time is really crucial.”

The Suns have no room for error during this run through the elite of the Western Conference. They are currently in tenth place in the conference, sitting three games out of the playoffs. If the Suns can’t stay afloat during the next eight games, the chances of coming back will be very slim.

Of particular importance are the games against Oklahoma City and New Orleans. Those two teams sit three and two-and-a-half games ahead of the Suns, respectively. The three teams are battling for the Western Conference’s final playoff spot, with only one of them likely to get in.

“Just as a competitor we’re all fighting for the same thing,” said Pelicans head coach Monty Williams when asked about the Suns. “We know what they’re doing. We watch their games. We didn’t beat them last year, so you always watch teams you didn’t have success against.”

Heath is a huge factor for Phoenix during this playoff push and the team has some questions in that department. Guard Brandon Knight and center Alex Len are both dealing with ankle sprains and are listed as day to day. The longer the two remain out, the tougher the fight for the eighth seed will be for the Suns.

“They’re getting there,” said Hornacek. “Hopefully it’s not too much longer. Guys are going to have to step up. Simple as that.”

As they near the end of a transition-filled year, the Suns will have to be at their very best over the next two weeks. The team knows that the season will come down to their ability to beat the best of the best in the NBA.

“It’s all about making a push,” noted Bledsoe. “At the end of the day, we can’t wait for anybody to lose. We’ve got to help ourselves.”