The Phoenix Suns are the team to be in the West, not Utah

The Phoenix Suns have dominated in the 2021 NBA Playoffs so far, and they have given no hints of slowing down.

First, it was LeBron James, who is arguably the greatest basketball player of all-time. Now it is Nikola Jokic, the NBA’s current regular season Most Valuable Player. Neither has been able to establish an answer to the Phoenix Suns.

Everybody knew that the Suns were a darn good team, winning 51 games in their regular-season stretch and subsequently clinching the second seed in the formidable Western Conference playoff bracket. However, they have recently shown such elite dominance that the people of Phoenix are rarely used to seeing from their franchise.

In their opening series with the Los Angeles Lakers, Suns star Devin Booker led his squad past the aforementioned LeBron in six games, handing the veteran the only first-round departure of his entire career so far. This was despite Phoenix’s other half of their dynamic duo, Chris Paul, playing through injury.

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Now there was a lot to say about the outcome of this matchup (as there typically is whenever LeBron loses), such as him donning the old age of 36, and the Lakers’ Anthony Davis being sporadic all throughout the affair as he dealt with wounds of his own.

The same can’t be said for Phoenix’s current postseason adversary, the Denver Nuggets, though. Sure, outstanding point guard Jamal Murray is missing due to injury, but that did not stop them from pushing past the Portland Trail Blazers in their own respective first-round meeting.

So far, the Suns are up 3-0 on Denver (with the closest installment being decided by a margin of 14 points), despite Jokic’s consistent all-star numbers. At this rate, the Nuggets will fall victim to a sweep while Phoenix stomps their way into the Western Conference Finals with relatively little effort required.

The takeaway here is that the Suns are the face of the West right now, not the top-seeded Utah Jazz. Now Utah has certainly done their part in looking menacing, as they have already handled the Memphis Grizzlies in five and currently hold a solid grip on their own semifinal with the LA Clippers. However, Phoenix has struggled less lately, despite facing tougher competition. So if the edge has to be given to one of them, it’s going to the Suns.

The secret to success for the Suns is their one-two punch of Booker and Paul. When Paul is healthy and dropping double-doubles, the team looks almost unstoppable. If they enter the conference championship series without any hiccups, a spot in the NBA Finals should be a guarantee.