It was the Sacramento Kings, not the Phoenix Suns, that were supposed to be taking the Western Conference by storm.
The Sacramento Kings and Phoenix Suns are two teams that have trended in opposite directions to start the season, which was expected.
What wasn’t expected was that the Suns would be trending up while the Kings would struggle out of the gate.
It was the Kings who were supposed to be the surprise team in the Western Conference. Their talented young core had another year of experience under their belts and the team added some solid under-the-radar players through free agency.
It was the Kings who were supposed to benefit from an offseason coaching change. It was the Kings who were supposed to be able to handle the adversity when their second-year, top-2 pick was ruled out for an extended period of time after the first game of the season.
It was the Kings who were slept on all summer. They were disrespected by national media outlets, overlooked by NBA analysts, and left out of Twitter discussions regarding “best young core”. As it turns out, they deserved to be ignored. The Suns did not.
As of Thursday afternoon, the Suns have a 5-2 record and sit in the 4th seed in the mighty Western Conference. Those two losses came by a combined two points, one of them in overtime in Denver. They have beaten the Clippers and then-undefeated 76ers, and demolished the Sacramento Kings by 29 points on opening night.
After last night’s 11-28 shooting overall from 3, (starters were 11-19, the bench was 0-9), five #Suns are now shooting at least 40% from 3:
— Valley of the Suns (@ValleyoftheSuns) November 5, 2019
Booker: 50.0% (19-38)
Baynes: 48.4% (15-31)
Carter: 41.7% (10-24)
Rubio: 40.0% (6-15)
Johnson: 40.0% (8-20)
Oubre: 35.7% (10-28)#RisePHX pic.twitter.com/D18PC9v8U3
Since that first-game massacre, things haven’t gotten much better for the Kings. They lost a home game to the Charlotte Hornets and find themselves with a 2-6 record. According to ESPN.com’s BPI playoff odds, the Kings currently have a 1.1% chance of qualifying for the postseason. The Suns sit at 55.5%.
Things have a chance to get even better for Phoenix. They play 6 of their next 7 games at home, including contests against beatable teams like Miami, Brooklyn, and Atlanta.
That one away game? Against the Kings in Sacramento on Tuesday, November 19th.