The Phoenix Suns will face turmoil for the first time this season. How will they handle the pressure without Kevin Durant?
It's hard to deny that the Phoenix Suns have been one of the best teams in the league through the first three weeks of the regular season. The team's only blemish on the roster through nine games came at the hands of the Los Angeles Lakers during the first week of the season. Since then, the Suns have won seven games in a row. In what should come as a surprise to no one, a big part of the team's early-season success is the play of Kevin Durant.
Nearly an eighth through the regular season, KD is playing at an NBA MVP level. He's averaging 28 points, seven rebounds, and three assists per game on 55 percent shooting from the field and 43 percent shooting from 3-point range. He's helped fuel the Suns to the 11th-best offense and 10th-best defense in the league. Perhaps most importantly, he's helped Phoenix jump out to an 8-1 start to the season. Right now, the Suns are tied with the Oklahoma City Thunder for the best record in the West.
After concerns about the team's future heading into the start of the season, it appears as if everything is finally beginning to come together for the talented roster. However, over the next couple of weeks, the Suns will face their first bit of turmoil this season. After sustaining an injury during the team's victory on Friday night over the Dallas Mavericks, KD is slated to miss two weeks with a calf strain.
Can the Suns show championship poise without KD?
Losing KD for two weeks may not seem like a huge hit for the Suns but if they want to pace with the likes of the Thunder in the West, they'll have to prove that they can survive a few games without KD. That's generally what championship teams are able to do. The question is, are the Suns a championship team and can they survive a few games without their NBA MVP candidate?
If KD only misses two weeks, there's a good chance he'll return on November 26 against the Los Angeles Lakers at home. If that's a fair assumption, he'll miss seven games for the Suns. Over that stretch, the Suns will face likely playoff teams on six occasions. The only game over the next two weeks in which the Suns won't face a likely playoff team is when they travel to Utah to take on the Jazz.
In short, this will be a good test for the Suns. We're going to find out a lot about this team and their depth beyond KD. And if the Suns are able to stand tall and "survive" over the next two weeks without KD in the lineup, perhaps it's going to be time to start looking at the Suns a bit differently in the Western Conference.