There is one thing I have realized watching this Phoenix Suns team play this week. Every team in the NBA has ebbs and flows. Shots stop falling. Rebounds slip through hands. Turnovers pile up. Reads get
missed on both ends of the floor. That stuff is baked into basketball.
What stands out about this Suns team is how quickly they course correct. Those rough patches show up, they last a few minutes, sometimes a half, and then they vanish. We have not seen it drag across an entire game. We have not seen it become an identity.
They make mistakes. Every team does. The difference is they do not let those mistakes snowball for long stretches. In past years, those dips felt like quicksand. One bad possession turned into five, and suddenly you were staring at a whole lost game or a whole lost week. That has not been the story this season.
Week 6 was the perfect snapshot. Tough competition, real tests, and a clean 3 of 3 week. They beat a feisty Portland team on the road. They pulled off an epic, historic comeback at home against Minnesota. They closed the week by taking care of San Antonio.
You can point to missing bodies if you want. Portland did not have Jrue Holiday or Jerami Grant. San Antonio did not have Victor Wembanyama or Stephon Castle. The standings do not care. The win column does not come with asterisks. When you look back in April, you will not be talking about who was out on a random night in November.
All that remains is black and white. Wins and losses. And so far, this team has not disappeared for long stretches. They keep showing up, they keep responding, and they keep stacking wins.
Week 5 Record: 3-0
@ Portland Trail Blazers, W, 127-110
- Possession Differential: -5.1
- Turnover Differential: -4
- Offensive Rebounding Differential: +3
The Suns went to Portland and played basketball like a hornet nest with WiFi, racking up 19 steals, 29 fast break points, and actually closing the door this time. This squad may not be the prettiest, but they are noisy, connected, and starting to feel like the kind of team nobody wants to see on their schedule.
vs. Minnesota Timberwolves, W, 114-113
- Possession Differential: +0.2
- Turnover Differential: +8
- Offensive Rebounding Differential: -1
Some games will be remembered longer than others. Friday night was one of those games.
Phoenix punched first, absorbed the body blows, and somehow found 9 straight points of chaos to steal a 114-113 fever dream. Booker and Brooks fouled out, Gillespie and Goodwin turned into action heroes, and the Suns proved they can take a punch and swing back when the lights get hot.
vs. San Antonio Spurs, W, 111-102
- Possession Differential: +2.1
- Turnover Differential: -13
- Offensive Rebounding Differential: -3
Cold start, hot finish.
The Suns sputtered through the first half like an old engine but warmed up in time to outlast the Spurs, grabbing a 111-102 win and handing San Antonio their second Suns’ signed loss of the season.
Inside the Possession Game
- Weekly Possession Differential: -2.8
- Weekly Turnover Differential: -9
- Offensive Rebounding Differential: +1
- Year-to-Date Over/Under .500: +5
Let’s start you with the graph:
Now that you have seen the graph, what do you actually take from it?
This team is not slaughtering opponents in the possession game. They averaged 17.3 turnovers a night in Week 6, which ranked 6th-most in the league for the week. The 28-turnover mess against Minnesota did not help at all. Off those 17.3 turnovers, they gave up 20.7 points off turnovers. That ranked 7th-most in the NBA for the week, but when you line it up with how many turnovers they committed, it was not catastrophic.
The real early-season story is shot volume. They are taking more shots than the teams they play. They have 58 more shot attempts than their opponents so far, good for the 6th-most in the NBA.
Jordan Ott’s plan is working. They are winning in different ways every night, and that matters. Some nights they own the possession battle. Some nights they win the rebounding margin. Some nights they take care of the ball better, or when they turn it over, they limit the damage on the other end.
There is still a gap, however, in how they convert turnovers into points. This week, the Suns averaged 19.7 points off turnovers. Their opponents turned it over 20.3 times a night. That is not even a point per turnover. That is a conversation that is going to keep coming up all season until it shifts. They have to be better at cashing in on those chances. Opposing teams are cracking the door open for them. They have to walk through it.
Still, it is hard to complain about a 3 of 3 week. They are winning in a lot of different ways. And eventually, the hope is that finishing off turnovers becomes one of those ways too.
Week 6 Preview
Only 6% of the community believed the Suns would go 3-0 this week. 46% believed the team would end up going 1-2. This team continues to surprise.
When you look at Week 6, you see opponents with a combined winning percentage of .657. They’re 44-23. Week 6 will be tough.
Tonight begins with the Houston Rockets, a team that enters 10-4 and 0.5 games ahead of Phoenix in the standings. Kevin Durant will not be present, but he has a cast that fits him cleanly, including Alperen Sengun, who has turned into a revelation this season. Sengun takes pressure off Durant, something that never truly materialized in Phoenix. Durant carried the weight. He had to be the tip of the spear when he has always worked better as the edge slicing in from the side.
The schedule light flickers a little on Wednesday as the Suns open a two-game road trip starting in Sacramento. This is the same Kings team they beat on opening night, crawling out of a 20-point hole to do it.
After that, the tone changes. The climb becomes steep. The Suns walk straight into two of the toughest teams in the league.
First comes Oklahoma City on the road on Friday, with the defending champions sitting at 13-1. Then Phoenix returns home the next night to face Denver, the second-best team in the West. No rest for anyone. A back-to-back with Oklahoma City and Denver was gifted by the league’s scheduling department. Thanks.
How are you feeling about Week 6?
