Phoenix Suns rising after win streak, but still not among the elite in NBA Power Rankings
While the Phoenix Suns are riding a six-game winning streak, they still are not cracking the top level of power rankings across the media landscape.
The team has won 11 of its last 14 contests, as star two-guard Bradley Beal returned from injury for the second game of that stretch and has stayed healthy since. While most power rankings have acknowledged the Suns gaining steam as of late, they do not have them reaching the top tiers of the NBA just yet.
ClutchPoints' 'NBA Power Rankings, Week 14':
Brett Siegel of ClutchPoints has the Suns ranked 12th on his NBA power rankings for this week:
"Kevin Durant, Devin Booker, and Bradley Beal are all healthy. As a result, the Suns have won five straight games, the longest active win streak in the Western Conference, and they are now six games above .500 on the season. Offensively, the Suns have scored at least 117 points in every game during their current win streak.
As good as their stars have been, Grayson Allen has been the unsung hero of the Suns this season. Allen is averaging a career-best 13.8 points per game while leading the league at 48.6 percent from three-point range. There were a lot of question marks entering the year regarding where the Suns would receive secondary production on offense. Allen has answered the call.
The Suns are looking to prove they can contend with the very best in the league. Now just six games back from the 1-seeded Timberwolves, Phoenix has a great opportunity ahead of them this upcoming week. Aside from a home game against Chicago, three road games against playoff-caliber teams gives the Suns a chance to inch closer to the top of the West standings. The Suns are hot and made the biggest jump in these Week 14 NBA Power Rankings."
After all, the Suns did end up winning that first game of the week against the Chicago Bulls, where they came back from 23 points down. Winning 115-113, they almost hit that average of 117 that they had during the winning streak through the first five victories. The Big 3 certainly showed up — particularly Durant.
Durant hit 16-of-32 field goals (6-of-15 from three) for 43 points. He also picked up eight assists, six rebounds, two blocks and a steal.
Booker and Beal each chipped in five assists and four rebounds. Booker scored 16 on 6-of-11 shooting (2-for-6 from deep), and recorded a steal. Beal racked up 18 points on 7-of-17 shooting (2-of-4 from deep).
The Suns moved up five spots in these rankings from where they were last week.
CBS Sports' 'NBA Power Rankings':
Colin Ward-Henninger of CBS Sports ranks the Suns as his No. 10 team in his power rankings:
"And here come the Suns, who have won five straight after beating the Kings, Pelicans and Pacers this week. Devin Booker went off for 52 points in the win over New Orleans, then Kevin Durant took the helm and dropped a 40-piece on Indiana. They each averaged over 30 for the week. Thus the power of the Phoenix offense."
During said week, Durant and Booker averaged 62.3 combined points per game. Durant posted shooting splits of 60/47.8/100, and Booker posted shooting splits of 47.1/38.1/88. Durant averaged 2.3 blocks per game during that three-game stretch and Booker averaged eight assists per game during that stretch.
The Suns moved up six spots this week from where they were previously in this ranking.
NBA.com's 'Power Rankings, Week 14':
NBA.com's John Schuhmann slotted Phoenix in at No. 9 of his power rankings:
"Uh oh. It may be time for other teams to start (if they weren’t already) worrying about the Suns, who’ve had their three stars together for seven straight games and won the last five."
Last week, Schuhmann placed Phoenix 14th in these rankings. He listed "three takeaways":
"Before last week, the Suns were 1-7 within the top eight in the Western Conference, having lost to the Clippers by 27 points in the first (and only one) of those games in which Phoenix had all three of its stars. But the Suns came back from 22 points down in the fourth quarter to beat the Kings on Tuesday, with Kevin Durant winning the game at the free throw line with less than two seconds left. Three nights later, they won in New Orleans behind 52 points from Devin Booker. So 1-7 has become 3-7 within the top eight in the West, with the 10 games still being the fewest that any of the eight teams have played within the group."
"Even with the five-game winning streak, the Suns are just 7-4 with Booker, Durant and Bradley Beal in uniform. They’ve outscored their opponents by 17 points per 100 possessions in 214 minutes with all three on the floor, but are just a plus-1.6 per 100 over the 11 games total."
"While they haven’t been dominant, five straight wins is the longest active winning streak in the West, and it’s been a relatively strong stretch defensively (112.0 points allowed per 100 possessions). Over the weekend, the Suns held two top-10 offenses (those of the Pelicans and Pacers) well below the league average for efficiency."
The Athletic's 'NBA Power Rankings':
Zach Harper of The Athletic has the Suns as his No. 10 team, per his power rankings:
"The Suns might be in the process of turning this into what they expected it to be. They’ve played great basketball recently, and we’re seeing the trio of Kevin Durant, Devin Booker and Bradley Beal look unstoppable on offense. I still believe in the potential of this team, but they really don’t have role players capable of helping on both ends of the floor. The Suns have to pretty much decide to go all-in on offense."
Unfortunately for Phoenix, few of their offseason acquisitions that they made to improve their role players after the Beal trade have worked to fruition. Only Allen (13.7 points per game, 49.1% three-point percentage) and Eric Gordon (12.5 points per game, 44.4% field goal percentage) have made consistent, strong impacts. None have been particularly impactful on defense consistently.
Harper raised the Suns from 15 in his previous power ranking to 10 for this one. He has them listed in 'Tier 2 — Brink of Contention.' Perhaps a strong trade deadline or productive buyout market signings could give Phoenix role players who can make a difference defensively.
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Phoenix Suns rising, but still not among the top in NBA Power Rankings
