Suns playoff, NBA play-in seeding scenarios before T-Wolves game

13/04/2024 21:18

Devin Booker may never say the words again, but his Phoenix Suns need LeBron James, Anthony Davis and the No. 8 seed Los Angeles Lakers to beat the New Orleans Pelicans on Sunday.

“Go Lakers,” Booker said.

Booker and the Suns, who are the No. 7 seed in the West, can move up to No. 6 if the Lakers beat the Pelicans on Sunday.

Phoenix secured the No. 7 seed at least with its 108-107 win over the Sacramento Kings. If they remained at No. 7, the Suns would host the No. 8 seed in a play-in game at Footprint Center Tuesday.

Here are the situations for the Suns and the play-in.

Win, Pelicans loss

If the Pelicans lose and the Suns beat the Minnesota Timberwolves, who are fighting for the No. 1 seed and will have their full compliment of players, Sunday, they will move into the No. 6 seed and out of the play-in.

This is the best-case scenario for Phoenix, which will have overcome injuries and a shift of the guard at the trade deadline. The Suns did not have Booker, Kevin Durant and Bradley Beal on the floor in the regular season until Dec. 13, and they are now 25-15 in games in which they have all played.

Win, Pelicans win

If New Orleans wins, the Suns would be one game behind it in the standings, therefore putting them at No. 7.

Loss

A loss to the Timberwolves would keep the Suns at No. 7 in the play-in, which means it would have two chances at home to advance out of the round.

Phoenix guard Bradley Beal, who is becoming the emotional leader, said the team is hunting for a championship. Center Jusuf Nurkic told ClutchPoints he is confident in the Suns’ chances no matter where they are seeded.

“At the end of the day, I understand that when the playoff comes, it’s a different ballgame,” Nurkic told us. “We have three of those (players with Durant, Booker and Beal). I feel really confident to see who’s going to beat us 4-0 in any case scenario. I don’t really care what happens. I do want to finish out of the play-in, because I’ve been there, been a part of the play-in, know what it takes and how much it takes you from rest and everything. But like I said, for our team, personally, just stay healthy.”

Phoenix’s win over the Kings means it will finish in at least No. 7. That means the Suns would have two chances to advance out of the play-in round.

However, Phoenix has struggled in games recently against opponents it was favored to win against. The sooner the Suns, who beat two of the top three seeds in the West in the past month, advance to the playoffs, the better it seems for them.

“We want to win a ring,” Beal said.

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