PHOENIX — The NBA-leading Phoenix Suns will be in the playoffs for back-to-back years after the team topped the Miami Heat Wednesday night.
For a team with a 53-13 record, it shouldn’t come as much of a surprise. But prior to last season, Phoenix hadn’t seen playoff basketball since 2010.
It was the second-longest drought in the league, and Phoenix roared back with a Western Conference championship and a trip to the NBA Finals.
Ultimately, the team fell short to the Milwaukee Bucks, but the squad is poised to make another deep run behind Devin Booker, Chris Paul, Deandre Ayton and a stellar supporting cast.
Phoenix owns the best record across the league and is 8.5 games ahead of the team’s nearest rival, the Memphis Grizzlies. The Suns are the first team to officially clinch a playoff spot.
Booker is the team’s leading scorer, but Paul’s arrival to Arizona elevated the team to heights unseen in decades.
CP3 is still nursing a thumb injury and is expected to return near the end of the regular season, but coach Monty Williams says it's an opportunity to strengthen the team's depth for the postseason.
The franchise record for wins in a single season is 62.
With 16 games left to go, the team needs to earn a .500 record for the remainder of the season to break that record.
Sports
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