The 2021-22 Phoenix Suns will go down as the greatest regular season squad in the history of the franchise.
But that won’t matter so much to Monty Williams’ group if they don’t find a way to make up for last year’s heartbreaking loss in the NBA Finals. The Suns hit the 60-win mark in their Mar. 24 road win against the Denver Nuggets, and home advantage throughout the postseason is essentially locked up at this point.
Phoenix’s 2021-22 regular season will conclude with what figures to be a meaningless home game against the Sacramento Kings on Apr. 10 (time to be announced). The Suns will likely rest or greatly limit the playing time of key players such as Chris Paul, Devin Booker and Deandre Ayton for that game.
With the Suns comfortably holding the league’s best record, they’re unsurprisingly the favorites to win the NBA Championship at major sportsbooks like Caesars Arizona (+300), DraftKings (+290) and Fanduel +300) which is now operating in the Copper State, and new customers can get up to $1,100 in first bet insurance.
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Kings Could Be A Great Late-Season Test For Suns
Their lackluster record wouldn’t suggest it, but the Kings have actually played the reigning Western Conference Champions very tough this season.
Phoenix got off to a surprisingly sluggish 1-3 start to open the season, and that included a 110-107 home loss to Sacramento on Oct. 27. The Suns would win their next 18 games, not losing again until Dec. 3 to the Golden State Warriors.
The Suns evened the season series with a road win in Sacramento on Nov. 8. Cameron Payne paced the Phoenix offense with 24 points. Booker contributed 18 points, while Chris Paul and Mikal Bridges each posted 16.
Phoenix and Sacramento wouldn’t meet again until Mar. 20 in the state capital. Led by Booker’s 31 points, the Suns narrowly outlasted the underdog Kings 127-124 in an overtime thriller. Davion Mitchell led the Sacramento offense that night with 28 points, and veteran Harrison Barnes chipped in with 21 points of his own.
So if coach Williams ultimately decided to play his starters in Game No. 82, it could be a nice late-season test for the Suns. The first seed will be locked up by then, but getting some intense action with a division rival could better prepare Phoenix for the playoffs.
At this point, it looks like the Suns will face either the Minnesota Timberwolves, Los Angeles Clippers, New Orleans Pelicans, Los Angeles Lakers or San Antonio Spurs in the opening round of the playoffs.
The Timberwolves and Clippers are essentially safe for play-in berths, though Minnesota has an outside shot of moving into a top-six seed. But the Lakers, Pelicans and Spurs are in an intense three-way horse race for the final two spots.
With all due respect to those five teams, none of them simply have the firepower to keep up with Phoenix in a best-of-seven. So maybe Williams would prefer to rest his key players against Sacramento with the idea of keeping them fresh and fully energized for what should be an easy series victory in the opening round.
Prediction: Kings Will Beat Suns To Close Out Regular Season
This is strictly going off the assumption that the likes of Booker, Ayton and Paul do not play regular minutes against Sacramento.
If Williams rests or limits his star players in this one, the Kings will have a prime opportunity to end their disappointing season on a high note. If they can play the Suns tough when they’re at full strength, why can’t Sacramento beat a Phoenix lineup mostly consisting of bench players?
The Suns won’t have anything to play for in this game, and nobody can fault Williams if he decides to play it safe here.
So the Kings will theoretically have a considerable matchup advantage here if they’re mostly playing the Suns’ bench. It should all add up to a victory for Sacramento, and a meaningless defeat for the league’s best team.
Robert Griffith is a content and essay writer. He is collaborating with local magazines and newspapers. Robert is interested in topics such as marketing and history.
