The Phoenix Suns‘ shockingly underwhelming form has left Kevin Durant‘s former teammate Kendrick Perkins baffled. After their 128-103 loss to the Shai Gilgeous-Alexander-less Oklahoma City Thunder on Friday, the NBA player-turned-analyst put forth an interesting opinion about Phoenix’s downward spiral.
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Perkins took to X, formerly called Twitter, to make sense of the Suns’ poor form. The 39-year-old had a bizarre hypothesis about the Desert franchise’s relegation into the play-in spots, “Either the Suns suck or they’re trying to get Vogel fired… because they have ZERO excuses for getting STOMPED out tonight by the Thunder who didn’t have their best player!!! I’m just saying…”
Following the Sacramento Kings’ and the Los Angeles Lakers’ losses earlier in the day, the Suns had the opportunity to create some breathing space between themselves and the chasing pack in the race for the sixth spot in the Western Conference standings. SGA’s absence due to a right quad contusion boosted Phoenix’s odds of winning the game. However, the star-studded Suns roster delivered a whimper of a performance and were outscored in all four quarters.
While Durant had an efficient outing, scoring 26 points on 10-of-17 shooting, his superstar teammates, Devin Booker and Bradley Beal, shot a combined 10-of-22 from the field for 29 total points. Veteran Eric Gordon also had a rough night. He shot 2-of-10 from the field and converted only one of his eight three-point attempts.
With the playoffs right around the corner, the Suns’ horrendous performance on both ends of the floor against one of the top teams in the West is concerning. They are looking destined to compete in the play-in tournament and earn a spot in the playoffs. But given their recent performances, it’s very difficult to bet on them making a deep playoff run this year.
The Suns’ stunning downturn in form
The Phoenix Suns shot to the top of the preseason betting favorites table after acquiring Jusuf Nurkic and Bradley Beal ahead of the 2023-24 NBA season. However, Beal’s prolonged absence due to a slew of injuries hampered Phoenix’s regular season campaign.
Beal had been healthy for the entirety of March and has featured in 15 straight games. However, his presence has only amplified the problem and exposed the Suns’ shortcomings. They are 8-7 in their last 15 games and have been surpassed by the Dallas Mavericks and the New Orleans Pelicans in the Western Conference standings. They are currently seventh, but are only two games clear of the ninth-placed Lakers.
With their roster fully healthy, the Suns have run out of excuses. They’ve been poor in the home stretch of their regular season schedule and have even been relegated to sixth in ESPN’s championship odds. With only eight games left before the play-in tournament, Phoenix needs to wake up and string together a run of positive results to avoid slipping any further in the Western Conference standings and build some confidence ahead of the postseason.
