Phoenix Suns give GM James Jones a reason to beam ahead of NBA playoffs

The usually relaxed James Jones was beaming Tuesday afternoon during his media availability after practice.

Maybe it’s the start of the NBA Playoffs that has the Phoenix Suns president of basketball operations and general manager revved up a tad bit more than normal.

Maybe hearing basketballs bouncing in the team’s practice facility is sweet music to his ears.

Or maybe, just maybe it’s the Suns are heading into the Western Conference playoffs with some momentum and fully healthy. Winners of three straight, Phoenix is 7-3 in its last 10 games.

“Our team is whole now,” Jones said. “If you look at what we’ve done, we won 49 games and are a sixth seed. You win 49 games in the (Eastern Conference), you’re a two seed. You win three or four more games (in the Western Conference), you’re talking about being in the top two, three seed. You can look backwards or you can look forward and I look forward to continuing to build the momentum that we’ve built over the last 10 games. I think we’ve started to see our team come together.”

Sixth-seeded Phoenix opens postseason play Saturday at third-seeded Minnesota. The Suns (49-33) swept the regular-season series over the Timberwolves (56-26), winning their final matchup, 125-106, Sunday at Target Center in Minneapolis.

“We knew our backs were against the wall,” Suns backup big Thaddeus Young about Sunday’s win as the Suns raced out to a 44-22 lead in the first quarter. “We knew exactly what we needed to do and we didn’t want to end the season not doing what we were supposed to do.”

The Suns needed to top the T-Wolves and have the Lakers win Sunday in New Orleans to capture the sixth seed. The Lakers did their part in defeating the Pelicans, 124-108.

Phoenix and New Orleans ended the regular season with the same record, but the Suns landed the sixth seed due to having the head-to-head tiebreaker over the Pelicans.

“Guys came out fully energized, ready to play,” Young continued. “Making shots, but most of all, our defense was phenomenal in the first half.”

The Suns find themselves on a favorable side of the conference playoffs if the regular season means anything.

Defending NBA champion Denver is the second seed in the West and will play the seventh-seeded Lakers in the first round. The Suns went 2-1 in the regular season versus the Nuggets and won their last two matchups against the Lakers after dropping the first three within the first three months of the regular season.

The Suns are also healthy outside of Damion Lee (knee), who has been out all season with a knee injury. Eric Gordon missed Sunday's game with a migraine, but will likely be back for the playoffs.

"Forget about the injury report," said 7-footer Jusuf Nurkic, who has been battling a right ankle sprain, during Phoenix's three-game road trip to end the regular season. "No one is going to be on the injury report."

Phoenix is 26-15 with the Big 3 in the lineup, but there’s a more meaningful number tied to that record – 18.

That’s the number of consecutive games Devin Booker, Kevin Durant and Bradley Beal played together to close out the regular season. Phoenix went 12-6 in its final 18 games with those three on the court.

“It’s always been a narrative when the Big 3 are together,” Jones said. “If you look at our success, it’s much deeper than that. When our team is connected, we’re really, really tough to beat.”

To put those numbers in perspective; James Harden, Kyrie Irving and Durant played a total of 16 games together in two seasons counting the playoffs, going 8-2 in the regular season and 5-1 in the postseason.

Have opinions about the current state of the Suns? Reach Suns Insider Duane Rankin at dmrankin@gannett.com or contact him at 480-787-1240. Follow him on X, formerly Twitter, at @DuaneRankin.

Support local journalism. Start your online subscription.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Suns GM James Jones looking for success with Big 3 together