National Basketball Association

Five reasons the Phoenix Suns are NBA title favorites

Updated Mar. 30, 2022 2:25 p.m. ET

By Yaron Weitzman
FOX Sports NBA Writer

Here’s a stat for you (courtesy of John Schuhmann at NBA.com): Since the NBA began compiling play-by-play data, only two teams — the Warriors in 2014-15 and again in 2016-17 — have finished in the top three on both offense and defense.

Both those squads won the title.

I bring this up because right now, the Phoenix Suns are on pace to join that group. The Suns rank second in the league on both offense and defense with just seven regular-season games remaining.

Aside from racking up victories like no other team this season — at 61-14, they’ve already clinched home-court advantage throughout the postseason — the Suns are also dominating in a manner we’ve rarely seen.

This isn’t a fluke, either. Remember, this Phoenix team got within two games of a championship last season and likely would have won the title if not for a historic performance from Giannis Antetokounmpo.

"We’ve been winning basketball games for two years straight now," Suns star Devin Booker told reporters after Phoenix won its 60th game of the season. "This team needs some flowers … it needs some recognition."

Why the Suns are title favorites

On "The Starting 5," Yaron Weitzman explains why Chris Paul and Devin Booker deserve the "MVP backcourt" title, how coach Monty Williams is setting the Suns up for success and more.

The Suns are an absolute juggernaut and — to me — clear title favorites. Here are five reasons for that.

1. MVP backcourt

There has been some "why isn’t Devin Booker in the MVP conversation?" conversation recently (nothing better than meta barbershop talk), and on the surface, I get it. Booker is the top scorer (26.5 points per game) on the league’s top team. That’s a recipe that usually leads to MVP votes.

And Booker has been fantastic this season. He’s an assassin in the midrange, is posting a career-best turnover rate and has improved his 3-point stroke (37.8% on 7.1 attempts after shooting below 35.5% the past three seasons). Also, the fact that much of the campaigning is being carried out by opponents is telling.

But Booker is not the MVP — Giannis, Nikola Jokic and Joel Embiid are each having historically great seasons — and that is in part because the Suns are far from a one-man show. It’s one of the traits that makes them so dangerous.

No other team has as many weapons. No other team boasts a backcourt featuring a lethal scorer such as Booker and a conductor such as Chris Paul, who, despite a small dip in shooting, is playing at typical Point God levels (first in assists, second in steals).

This Suns backcourt is going to be remembered along the lines of the Clyde Frazier-Earl Monroe, Isaiah Thomas-Joe Dumars and Steph Curry-Klay Thompson pairings. It’s one of the best ever, and while Booker won’t win MVP, we very well might remember him and Paul as the MVPs of the season.

2. Two-way dominance

I mentioned the historic company the Suns are on the verge of joining. Much of the credit for that belongs to the players surrounding Booker and Paul.

Mikal Bridges is a 3-and-D stud, maybe the best role player in the NBA, so good that describing him as a role player seems like a slight. He swallows opposing scorers with his "Go-Go Gadget" arms, is a steady 3-point shooter (38.3% overall, 39.1% on catch-and-shoots) and has added some off-the-bounce creativity to his game. The fact that he averaged 17.3 points on 52% shooting to go with 3.1 assists in the 15 games Paul recently missed is proof of just how good he has become.

Add former No. 1 pick DeAndre Ayton (17.2 points, 10.0 rebounds, solid rim defense), third-year sniper Cameron Johnson (who just happens to be leading the league in 3-point shooting at 44.8%) and a plethora of other weapons — including Jae Crowder, Cam Payne and Javale McGee, who has been a revelation as Ayton’s backup — and you have a roster deeper than almost any other. All the pieces fit together. There are no holes, no players to be left unguarded, no glaring mismatches to exploit.

3. Clutch gods

No area is more indicative of how overwhelming this Suns group has been this season than its dominance in close games.

It’s not just that they’re 31-6 (!) in "clutch" games (defined as within five points at some point in the final five minutes), though that’s obviously a ridiculous record. It’s how much better they’ve been in those games than every other team in the league.

The second-best clutch record this season? That belongs to the Clippers, at 22-17. But the difference becomes even more glaring when considering point differentials in these minutes.

The Suns have outscored their opponents in clutch time by 32.5 points per 100 possessions, which is a Harlem Globetrotters mark. It’s also more than twice that of the second-ranked Milwaukee Bucks.

Most of this damage comes on the offensive side of the ball, where the Suns torch defenses. They’re patient but also opportunistic. Paul and Booker are devastating off the pick-and-roll and experts at getting to their spots. Booker has hit 57% of his clutch-time shots, the top mark in the NBA, while Paul has drilled 55% of his, good for third.

The Suns are also led by one of the game’s premier tacticians. Speaking of which …

4. Coach of the Year

Monty Williams is now in his third season with the Suns. Since he took over, the team has gone 146-74.

The turnaround began two seasons ago in the bubble, when the Suns reeled off eight straight wins. The addition of Paul then catapulted the Suns into contention, but Williams has also proven himself to be one of the game’s top coaches.

He’s an X’s-and-O’s ace — you can’t thrive in the clutch the way the Suns have without savvy playcalling —and his players also say they appreciate the way he communicates with them. Williams is demanding without being demeaning. His players love him.

For example, when asked recently if Williams should be the Coach of the Year, Paul responded, "It shouldn't even be close. No disrespect to all them other coaches and what they [are] doing, but what are you watching if this man do not get Coach of the Year?"

Most NBA scouts and executives believe you can essentially divide NBA coaches into three categories: The true difference-makers (Popovich and Spoelstra types), those in over their heads, and everyone else in between.

Williams has proven that he belongs in the first group.

5. Wounded Warriors

Aside from being a great team, the Suns will likely be the only Western Conference contenders to enter the postseason fully healthy.

Grizzlies star Ja Morant is dealing with a knee issue and will probably be out the rest of the regular season. He’s supposed to return for the playoffs, but who knows what he’ll look like. You know the deal with the Clippers and Nuggets.

And the Warriors — probably the Suns’ greatest threat — now have to worry about Curry's foot injury, which could sideline him for the start of the playoffs.

In other words, unless you’re a big believer in the Jazz or the Mavericks, it looks like the field might be clear for the Suns to almost coast to the Finals. The East, of course, has a handful of contenders, but they’re going to spend two months beating up on one another.

The Suns, despite having been around for 53 years, have never won an NBA title. As the playoffs inch closer, it seems more and more likely that this will be the year that drought finally ends.

Yaron Weitzman is an NBA writer for FOX Sports and the author of "Tanking to the Top: The Philadelphia 76ers and the Most Audacious Process in the History of Professional Sports." Follow him on Twitter @YaronWeitzman.