Let’s talk about the good things first. The Phoenix Suns, as of midday March 26, 2025, occupy the final play-in spot in the Western Conference. After a 2-10 stretch in February that took them out of that top 10, they have clawed their way back.
Since the All-Star break, they have the fourth best offense in the league per Cleaning the Glass. It’s the second-best offense in the league against top 10 teams in the league during that stretch.
When Devin Booker and Kevin Durant are on the floor together, per PBP stats, they have an offensive rating of 119.79. That would be good enough for second in the league all season behind the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Furthermore, here is an important marker:
It's crazy that when KD & Book both play, the Suns are still 32-21 this year. That's a 50-win pace.
— Carson Breber (@Carsobi) March 25, 2025
The problem is they're 3-16 when either one of those guys is out.
KD is having a very underratedly phenomenal season. Should be First-Team All-NBA.
Phoenix fan here. So it’s a guarantee they win the championship, right?
Ummm ...
hmmm ...
no.
The Suns are in a good place to be in the play-in with the nearby Mavs and Kings kind of faltering and the next closest problem, Portland still being quite inexperienced. While the Suns have the most difficult remaining schedule per Tankathon, they still have talent.
Unfortunately, the Suns are 5.5 games back of the Minnesota Timberwolves for the eighth seed heading into the play-in, meaning they’re all but locked into a situation where they have to win two play-in games to get into the playoffs for realsies. And once they do, they will have to face the Oklahoma City Thunder.
The Thunder are up 2-0 on the season series, having won one game by 16 points and the other by 31. KD and DB combined to score 31 points in those two games. That is to say, KD didn’t play, and DB didn’t play well offensively.
The Sun and Thunder have one more matchup this season on April 9, so we’ll see if we can find any more representative data there, but right now there is not much to say other than the Thunder are the best team in the league, and the Suns are not as good as we hoped they would be.
And, for the sake of being annoying with stats, the Suns actually have a better net rating this year with both Booker and Durant sitting than with either of them on or both of them on. This is a bit to do with a low opponent’s 3-point percentage, but it also shows that even when Durant and Booker are out there, they are not exactly overwhelming the other team with superstardom.
Bradley Beal is also there.