PHOENIX — The Phoenix Suns are, for a second-straight season, showing they belong in the NBA title contender conversation.
They had the second best record in the NBA last season, after a deplorable playoff drought. They even made it to the NBA Finals, where they would fall to the Bucks.
Now, they're back on top of the NBA. Significantly, too. Over halfway through the season, the Suns have the NBA's best record at 37-9, four games ahead of the Warriors and seven games ahead of anyone in the Eastern Conference.
But, here they are again being overlooked as an NBA title favorite. The Suns aren't even in the top three for NBA title odds according to Vegas, sitting behind the Nets, Warriors and Bucks.
On Wednesday's Locked On Today podcast, Brendon Kleen of the Locked On Suns podcast joined Peter Bukowski to talk about the Suns' efficient first half of the season and why people still doubt them.
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Kleen said he thinks some of the perception on the Suns is probably being continued from last year's NBA Finals, when the narrative from many was that they had the easiest path to the NBA Finals in the playoffs.
"I think it's a little bit of carry over from the narrative that followed them last postseason, the fact that they were though to have gotten lucky. I don't think you can make that case anymore," Kleen said on Locked On Today. "They're basically two regulars seasons in now of being one of the most dominant, deep, chemistry-filled teams in the league. They have two killers in clutch time, Chris Paul and Devin Booker. There genuinely may not be two players on the same team as good as those two in clutch moments in the entire NBA."
"It's maybe just people not catching up, I don't know, they play a ton of national TV games, they beat the good teams when they need to take care of business, I don't have a good answer," Kleen continued.
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Kleen said what hindered the Suns in last year's NBA Finals ending up being the fact that the Bucks had three players playing like stars in Giannis, Khris Middleton and Jrue Holiday, while the Suns were missing that extra star power as Devin Booker and Chris Paul struggled down the stretch of the Finals.
This year, Kleen says we've seen more out of Mikal Bridges and DeAndre Ayton, which will be essential for another Suns title run, but there hasn't been enough yet to call either a third star.
But what's helped the Suns even more is extra development from Devin Booker, Kleen said.
"I think Devin Booker taking strides has really been the biggest story if you're talking about raising the ceiling of this team," Kleen said. "He's taking and making more threes, he's cut down on his turnovers, he's a little bit more equal of a playmaker with Chris Paul maybe than he was last season."
Another thing that can help the Suns make it back to the Finals for a second-consecutive year is that the Western Conference doesn't have the amount of legitimate contenders you have in the East.
"I don't think the path is the same this season," Kleen said. "The West looks a lot different, I would say frankly it's not as scary and not as deep as the East."
Chris Paul and Devin Booker are putting together All-Star campaigns again. Paul is averaging over 10 assists per game as Booker leads the team in scoring, averaging 24.5 points per game.
The Suns have a big game in Utah on Wednesday night against the Jazz, following their Monday night matchup where the Suns came out on top. Tune into the Locked On Suns podcast for pregame and postgame coverage, every game.
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