I love April basketball. It simply hits different. It is better when the Phoenix Suns are part of it (and more stressful), sure, but this stretch of the season always delivers. Every night for a fortnight, you get multiple First Round games, numerous options to choose from, and countless narratives to observe. Something is always on to entertain, analyze, and enjoy. It makes it easy to turn on, tune in, zone out.
Last night, after watching Philly and Portland win, I had the Houston Rockets and the Los
Angeles Lakers on. It’s one of those series you kind of hate watch. It’s impossible for both to fail, but that’s where I default. I don’t want the Lakers’ success. Why would I? They’re a franchise built upon a foundation of luck, more so than the Spurs, and their fanbase still thinks Kobe is a top 3 player of all-time. He’s not a top 3 Laker of all time. But that’s a conversation for a different day (Kareem, Magic, Shaq). It’s hard to talk to people who lack logic. And the Rockets? Let’s just say that the Suns’ fan in me wants to believe we won the KD trade, so having them lose fortifies that narrative, despite it being a non-productive and pointless one.
It was a competitive game. Despite no Luka and no Austin Reaves, a 41-year-old LeBron James delivered. Along with new sidekick Luke Kennard, he handled business and pushed the series to 2-0.
Kevin Durant (you have heard of the guy) did not have a clean night. The Lakers swarmed him. Marcus Smart was in his jersey from the opening tip, and KD coughed it regularly. By the fourth, the pressure only increased. He finished close to a double-double, but not the one you want. 23 points. 9 turnovers.
I could not help but flash back to those moments when Kevin Durant wore a Phoenix Suns jersey. Not the playoffs — they never got there last season — but those tight regular season games where things would slow down and suddenly the ball would bounce off his foot. It happened more than you want to remember. For all the brilliance, for all the shot making, there were possessions that ended before they ever had a chance because of a turnover that felt avoidable.
Seeing it once again sent my mind wandering a bit. Where Phoenix was a year ago. Where the Houston Rockets are now. Where both franchises sit, and where they might be headed. They are forever tied together now. Houston pushed in chips to win now, bringing in Durant, following a path the Suns had already walked. Phoenix did it in 2022, moving assets, reshaping the roster, and betting on a player to tilt the ceiling of the franchise. Houston followed that blueprint. They gave up less than Phoenix did, but the idea was the same: change the trajectory, chase a title, see if it all comes together.
And now you look up, and there is a chance both teams are staring at the same kind of outcome, sitting in the same room, asking the same questions about what comes next.
Because think about it. The Houston Rockets were the two seed in the Western Conference last season. They lost a hard-fought seven-game series to the Golden State Warriors, and you could point to youth as the reason. That pushed them to chase something more. Meanwhile, the Phoenix Suns did not make the playoffs. Now both teams could be staring at a similar outcome. Houston dropped from the two seed to the five after acquiring Kevin Durant. Phoenix climbed from the 11th to the seventh, then earned the eighth through the Play-In. The Suns head into Oklahoma City with a chance to even the series tonight, and if they do not, they become the only Western Conference team down 0-2 in the first round. Well, almost. Houston is right there, too.
Of course, this is reactionary. The postseason always is. You lose, it feels like you will never win again. You win, it feels like you will never lose again. That is the swing. I still expect Houston to push back in their series. They may not mirror what is happening to Phoenix in Games 1 and 2, but a first round exit is very much in play. And that brings the thought back to where we are now versus where we were then.
At the end of last season, it felt hopeless. The highest payroll in NBA history produced zero postseason wins. Zero postseason games. Bradley Beal had that silly no-trade clause, the draft cupboard was bare, and it felt like the only path forward ran through a complete and total reset. We talked about it all summer, how to fix it, and how to move on. And the Suns did. They moved on from Durant, moved on from Beal, wiped the board clean, and leaned into a cultural reset.
This season, they overachieved. It is not a perfect roster. Far from it. That is what makes the upcoming offseason so important. Step one was the culture rest. It was about identifying players who fit their desired style and identity. That box was checked. Now comes the harder part. Continue building with limited flexibility and rising competition in the West, while managing expectations.
That word matters. Expectation. It weighed down the previous era with Durant, Beal, and Devin Booker. Now it returns. The expectation is growth. Improvement. Tough decisions made with incomplete information. That is what made this season fun. It came without expectation. That is also what separates Phoenix from Houston right now. If the Suns lose in the first round, even in a sweep, the reaction stays measured. If that happens in Houston, the noise gets loud. Coaching questions. Roster moves. Big swings.
Next season will not come with that same cushion. The expectations are coming back, and this summer matters. You cannot keep cycling through experiments during Booker’s prime. If that is the path, then you have to ask bigger questions about direction. There are real decisions ahead. Jalen Green and his value. Mark Williams is entering restricted free agency, and what number makes sense? Royce O’Neale and how to maximize that asset. Grayson Allen and the balance between shooting and overall impact.
Those conversations are coming. They have to. Until then, we watch. We study. We see what works for others, what breaks down, and where there might be opportunity. And when you hear Houston fans vent about late-game turnovers from Durant, you cannot help but nod a little. You have seen that story before.
And maybe that is what April basketball really does best. It blurs the lines between present and past, between what feels new and what you know you have already seen. One game turns into a mirror, one possession into a reminder that team-building in the NBA is rarely linear and never guaranteed. The Suns and Rockets sit on different timelines but share the same lesson: bold swings can raise your ceiling, but they also sharpen your margin for error.
So as the games keep stacking up and the stakes keep rising, you watch not just for the outcome, but for the patterns. For the hints of what lasts and what doesn’t. Because in the end, that is the pull of this stretch of the season. It is not just about who wins or loses tonight. It is about understanding what it all means for tomorrow.
