Six months after trading away superstar Kevin Durant, the Phoenix Suns have emerged as a solid team that’s currently in playoff position in the Western Conference.
On Tuesday night, the Suns will visit the Miami Heat to start a six-game road trip.
Phoenix finished last season with a 36-46 record, its first losing campaign since 2019-2020. The struggles prompted the hiring of a new general manager (Brian Gregory) and new head coach (Jordan Ott), while dumping Durant in a seven-team deal that was the largest trade in NBA history. The Suns also bought out the contract of Bradley Beal.
The Suns then signed Devin Booker to a two-year, $145 million extension, and he has responded by leading Phoenix in scoring at 25.3 points per game and assists at 6.4.
Dillon Brooks adds 21.2 points after he was acquired in the Durant trade. Phoenix also acquired Jalen Green but he has missed two months with a hamstring injury.
The Suns have emerged more balanced with six scorers averaging double figures, not counting Green, who has played only two games. The list includes Royce O’Neale (10.5 points), who had 19 points on Sunday in a 112-93 win over the visiting Washington Wizards.
O’Neale revealed the basics of the team’s strategy for an 11-day trip through the Eastern Conference.
“Lock in on defense, create turnovers, play together, communicate, move the ball and play the right way,” O’Neale said.
Thanks in large part to Brooks’ trash-talking defensive tone-setting, the Suns have improved from 22nd in the NBA in points allowed per game to fifth (111.8). They carry a three-game winning streak, and a 9-2 record since Dec. 23, into the trip.
The Heat have dropped three straight games, all on the road, entering Tuesday’s contest.
Miami is 7-13 on the road but an impressive 13-6 at home, where they will be for the next three games.
Norman Powell — Miami’s leading scorer at 23.8 points — missed the Heat’s most recent game, a 124-112 loss at Oklahoma City on Sunday. Powell is considered day-to-day with lower back soreness.
Besides Powell, Miami’s key players include shooting guard Tyler Herro, power forward Bam Adebayo, center Kel’el Ware, point guard Davion Mitchell and reserve Jaime Jaquez Jr.
Herro, an All-Star last year, has played just nine games this season due to injuries. He’s healthy now and averaging 21.8 points.
Adebayo is scoring 16.4 points per game, the third straight year his rate has ticked down since a career-best 20.4 in the 2022-23 season. The defensive force has finished top 10 in the league’s Defensive Player of the Year voting six years in a row.
Ware is a 7-footer that is shooting 41.8% on 3-pointers while he leads the team in rebounds (10.2) and blocks (1.2). Mitchell leads Miami in assists (7.4), and he’s an on-ball defensive menace. Jaquez (15.9 points) is one of the best bench scorers in the NBA.
Still, Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said his team has to be tougher — and not just physically.
“We need mental toughness when the momentum starts to swing the other way, and it doesn’t have to be a 14-2 run against us. It can be half that,” Spoelstra said. “We have a very important week coming up. Our road trip didn’t go how we wanted. But now we have a great opportunity at home starting with Tuesday against Phoenix.”
