How Suns Can Build Momentum Ahead of Playoffs

The Suns have a month before the regular season concludes.

PHOENIX -- The Phoenix Suns sit at 38-27 through 65 games this season. 

The remaining schedule has been noted to be quite difficult - with games remaining against the Denver Nuggets, Milwaukee Bucks, and more. 

While the Suns have a strong chance to avoid the play-in tournament and perhaps even reach the 50-win goal, there remains a lot of skepticism around various NBA circles.

The truth is that this upcoming string of games against purposed contenders could be the for the best pertaining to the outlook of this team moving forward. 

The Suns sit at 18-18 against teams that have posted a .500 or better record at this juncture - which is respectable but could swing one way or the other depending on how the upcoming slate goes. 

The Suns simply need to stay healthy, take care of games they will be favored in (such as the San Antonio Spurs duology), and prove they can stay competitive against upper-echelon teams in the league. 

“We need to play Phoenix Suns basketball, we got to defend our ass off, we got to cover for each other, we got to play with pace and we got to trust the pass and play confident offensive basketball," said Suns coach Frank Vogel this past weekend. 

"We need to use our star power to break through the basketball, create the blender and play at a point-five mentality rule, which is just getting that thang moving around the perimeter, get that ball hopping. When we play that well, we’re tough to beat.” 

Phoenix also has legitimate tests coming to show the overall ability to hold up on defense against numerous elite offenses - the Suns have been top 10 in defensive rating one the last two-plus months, but the next month will truly be a measure of how they can hold up over the grind of a potential playoff run.  

The last seventeen games of the season will undoubtedly test the Suns, but the string of challenging games couldn't have come at a better time - the squad could be better because of it come playoff time.