5 reasons Phoenix Suns can win 2021 NBA championship
2. The title race is wide open
Is the Suns’ ceiling as high as the Lakers, Clippers or Nets when those teams are operating at max capacity? Maybe not. But because of injuries, COVID-19 health and safety protocols and the nature of this condensed, rushed season, there are as many as eight teams that have a legitimate shot at winning a title this year.
The Utah Jazz have been the NBA’s best team thanks to their elite 3-point attack and characteristically stout defense, but Donovan Mitchell (ankle) and Mike Conley (hamstring) aren’t 100 percent with the playoffs approaching. Mitchell will miss Utah’s last three regular-season games, which seems fairly worrisome, and the Suns have beaten the Jazz head-on all three times this season.
Paul George has been an absolute Suns killer and the Clippers are a bad matchup for Phoenix because of their switchability, but LA isn’t whole yet, with Patrick Beverley just returning and Serge Ibaka not having played since March 14 due to lower back tightness. And if “Pandemic P” makes another appearance? It’s anybody’s series if that happens, even with Kawhi Leonard being as dangerous as he is.
The Denver Nuggets have been on a tear since the Aaron Gordon trade, but even with Nikola Jokic playing like the no-brainer choice for MVP, this team lost quite a bit of its postseason punch when Jamal Murray went down for the season with an ACL tear.
Anthony Davis rediscovering his form and a fully healthy LeBron James is a terrifying prospect, and it’d be borderline unfair for the Suns’ reward for notching the NBA’s second-best record to be a first-round date with the defending champs. But LeBron also tried to return from that high ankle sprain before having to take more games off, and if he isn’t 100 percent, the Suns could send LA home earlier than anyone anticipated.
In the East, the Philadelphia 76ers won’t be trusted until Doc Rivers, Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons prove they can get this team back to the conference finals. The Milwaukee Bucks are in a similar “prove it” category thanks to Mike Budenholzer, and while the Brooklyn Nets are undoubtedly title favorites when healthy, James Harden still hasn’t returned. That Big 3 is terrifying, but their lack of floor time together, with Harden not having much time to get back in game shape, could become a hindrance to their championship aspirations.
Aside from Dario Saric and some COVID-19 complications, the Suns have been relatively healthy all season, spending that time building cohesion and continuity. Even against more talented opponents, that familiarity could matter in a season that’s so wide open.