Wednesday’s loss to the Boston Celtics was a sobering one for the Phoenix Suns. For four games, they were riding high, basking in the warm buzz of victory. It was the kind of streak that makes everything feel lighter, smoother, almost effortless. Winning can do that. It lulls you into a sense of comfort, a false confidence, like a few too many drinks at the bar.
But reality always comes knocking. Monday always arrives. And Boston? They weren’t just a wake-up call; they were a cold bucket of water to the face. No matter how hard Phoenix has fought to stack wins, this loss was a gut check. A reminder that the road ahead is still steep, and at this point in the season, every setback stings a little more.
That four-game winning streak lifted the Suns into a tie for the ninth seed with the Sacramento Kings. But the reality wasn’t as promising as it seemed. With a 1-2 record against the Kings this season, Phoenix doesn’t hold the tiebreaker. So in the standings, they weren’t really ninth. They were 10th. And in a brutally competitive Western Conference, that distinction matters.
Last night was an off night for the Suns, but there was no such break for the teams around them in the standings. Both the Kings and Mavericks took the court. And both took care of business. Dallas handled Orlando, while Sacramento cruised past Portland. And just like that, Phoenix finds itself on the outside looking in once again, slipping to the 11th seed and out of the Play In picture.
Mavs now 9th in the West after win at Orlando.
Kings 10th. Suns 11th.
Suns half game behind both. #Suns
— Duane Rankin (@DuaneRankin) March 28, 2025
This is our reality for the final nine games. A relentless scoreboard watch, a nightly standings check, an anxious wait to see if the Suns can claw their way into the postseason. Every move Mike Budenholzer makes will be scrutinized. Every rotation. Every minute allocated. The ‘disease of what if’ is about to take hold because when losses hit, so do the questions. What if someone played more? What if someone played less? Would it have made the difference? This is the exhausting tightrope the Suns are walking, where every decision feels magnified and every outcome carries the weight of a season teetering on the edge.
As the Suns prepare to face a Minnesota Timberwolves team fighting to escape the Play In and lock in a top-six seed, the stakes couldn’t be higher. Every game from here on out is a swing—climbing up the standings or slipping further down. The weight of each result feels heavier, the pressure more suffocating.
By the end of this stretch, we might all need a meeting at Suns’ Anonymous. I just wonder...what does that chip even look like? A basketball with stress fractures? A stat sheet full of missed opportunities? Whatever it is, we’re all about to earn one.
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