The last 7 days have been fantastic to say the least for the Phoenix Suns. First, they drop an NBA league high 152 points while systematically destroying the Minnesota Timberwolves. Secondly, the Suns dominated the Jazz and actually maintained a lead against them andgained valuable ground for home playoff advantage in the first round of the playoffs and finally, they beat the Blazers last night while only shooting 39% from the field.

The win that was most significant to me was the win last night against Portland. Portland to their credit may be the best defensive team I have seen in the NBA this season. Boston and Cleveland both give up slightly less points per game, however the Blazers play in the Western Conference where only 4 teams including themselves score under 100 points on average per night. By contrast, 10 teams in the Eastern Conference average less than 100 points per contest. The importance of this win was the fact the Suns could show that they can win playoff type basketball games. Even on a night where they were cold shooting they were able to bunker down on the defensive end and get key stops consistently down the stretch.

The Suns remain one game behind the Utah Jazz for 4th place in the Western Conference and only 3 games out of 2nd place. Looking at the Jazz’s schedule over the next 7 games, they have a pretty easy route the exception of Boston and the Lakers. Expect Utah to go 5-2 over this stretch. Comparatively, the Suns have 7 straight games where they could realistically win them all. If the Suns managed to win 7 straight, bringing their total in a row to 11, they could be in the driver’s seat for 2nd in the Western Conference. I realize this is not realistic, and they will likely have a let down along the way. However, the mere fact we are able to talk about this is amazing considering the Suns were left for dead after last year’s postseason miss.