Phoenix Suns Ranked Atop NBA's Power Rankings: NBA.com

PHOENIX, AZ — The Phoenix Suns unlocked another accolade in what has been a historic 2020-'21 regular season Monday.

The Suns currently have the second-best record (37-15) in the 30-team NBA and jumped to the top of NBA.com's latest batch of power rankings.

The ranking is important when you remember that the Suns haven't played in the NBA's postseason since 2010.

Monday's ranking marks the first time this season that the Suns achieved the NBA's top ranking, coming on the heels of last week's wins over the Houston Rockets, Utah Jazz and Washington Wizards.

NBA.com's John Schuhmann cited the Suns' 117-113 overtime win over the Jazz Wednesday in particular as a reason for bumping them up a spot, from No. 2 to No. 1.

"There were some really nice sequences in that win over Utah on Wednesday," Schuhmann said. "The Utah matchup is also a favorable one because the Suns have two of the five guys who have shot better than 50% on at least 200 pull-up 2s. And on Wednesday, Chris Paul (9-for-16) and Devin Booker (6-for-12) were 15-for-28 on those shots against the Jazz’s drop coverage. Booker has had good numbers against the Clips, but the game in L.A. on Thursday got away from the Suns with him off the floor at the start of the third quarter. Since Jae Crowder’s move into the starting lineup in min-March, the team’s minutes with only one of Paul or Booker on the floor (-0.3 points per 100 possessions) haven’t been nearly as good as they were prior (+13.2)."

The Suns are currently two and a half games behind the Jazz for the top spot in the Western Conference.

They play the likes of the Rockets (Monday), Miami Heat (Tuesday), Sacramento Kings (Thursday) and San Antonio Spurs (Saturday) at home this week.

That could prove beneficial for the Suns, as the team has won seven straight and 17 of their last 21 games played in Phoenix.

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