RSS
Home
Are the Suns in the midst of scheduling deja vu?
Print
Email
RSS
Subscribe
The Phoenix Suns have had their way with east coast teams on
the road over the past several years. (AP Photo)
The Phoenix Suns find themselves in an extremely familiar place at this early point of the season.
Three games into last year’s schedule, they were 2-1 as well, winning their first game on the road in Seattle, and then losing their home opener the following night to the Lakers in a tough back-to-back. They had a day to rest at home, and then beat Cleveland in their second home game of the season.
This year, they beat San Antonio on the road to open up the schedule, lost to New Orleans at home the next night, and then after a day’s rest at home, beat Portland. But the similarities don’t stop there.
Just like last year, the Suns take off for their first east coast road swing of the season this week. If you use their success back east last year as any measure for how they might fare, you’re going to like what you find.
In their second week of last season’s schedule, the Suns played two back-to-back sets, on a Tuesday and Wednesday, and then again on Friday and Saturday, identical to this week’s trip. They beat Charlotte and lost to Atlanta in the first two days. Then they had a great weekend beating Miami, who still had Shaquille O’Neal at the time, that led them with 25 points in the game (Shawn Marion had 17 points and 24 rebounds for Phoenix). Then a win at Orlando the next night finished the trip with a 3-1 record.
Phoenix has been a dominant force in their recent jaunts to the Eastern Time zone. Last year, they posted a record of 12-5 during four different trips. Their second trip, in December of last year, they won the first four games in a five game tour, only to give way to fatigue and lose to Minnesota in the finale.
They lost again to Minnesota in January, their only loss in a four game stint that saw them beat Milwaukee, Cleveland, and Chicago.
Phoenix had their worst trip in March of last season, when they lost the first two games against Detroit and Boston, but still wound up splitting the trip at 2-2, by beating Philadelphia and New Jersey in a back-to-back.
This week, they start the road trip against the New Jersey Nets on Tuesday, and play at Indiana on Wednesday. They’ll have Thursday off before playing another back-to-back at the Chicago Bulls on Friday, and the Milwaukee Bucks on Saturday, the same traveling days as last season at this time.
Last year, the Suns were 8-0 against those four teams, sweeping the two-game series against each of them. Only one of them were able to hold Phoenix under 110 points, which Chicago did at home, although the Suns still pulled out an 88-77 victory. With the Suns’ change in style, those types of numbers are unlikely, but the wins aren’t.
In the past two seasons, the Suns are an imperious 15-1 against their next four opponents, losing only to the Bulls at home during the 2006-07 season. However, Steve Nash was out nursing a shoulder injury that night, so you can argue adding an asterisk to even that single blemish.
In fact, the last time they lost to any of them on the road was during the 2005-06 campaign against Milwaukee. If you include that season as well, they’re 21-3 against this trip’s opponents since 2005.
The only road trip going back east longer for the Suns this season, doesn’t appear until late January. They play six games in nine days, with two back-to-backs at the beginning and end of the trip. All are against Eastern Conference teams, including the defending champion Boston Celtics (the second game of the first back-to-back).
Tuesday the Suns will see a new look Nets team centered around Vince Carter and Devin Harris. It also will mark the first time that Suns rookie Robin Lopez and his twin brother, Brook Lopez, face each other as opponents in the NBA.
The last time Phoenix lost to New Jersey was March 27th, 2006, in a 110-72 blowout where the Suns shot a franchise-worst 26.8 percent from the field (26 for 97). Phoenix has since won the last four meetings.
For more info: Suns 08-09 schedule
More About:
Game reviews
Related Articles:
Comments
Throughout the month of August, we're compiling your votes to make up the All-Decade teams for the Phoenix Suns. We have two down and two to go, as …
Throughout the month of August, we're compiling your votes to make up the All-Decade teams for the Phoenix Suns. We have two down and two to go, as …
