Ugly loss to Spurs a troubling sign for Suns in closing stretch

Phoenix Suns forward Kevin Durant (35) dribbles against San Antonio Spurs forward Jeremy Sochan (10) in the second half at Frost Bank Center. Daniel Dunn-USA TODAY Sports

Ugly loss to Spurs a troubling sign for Suns in closing regular-season stretch

By Eric Smithling | Last updated 3/25/24

The Suns hit a roadblock in their journey to the playoffs on Monday.

Two days after blowing out the Spurs 131-106, Phoenix lost 104-102 in its second consecutive game in San Antonio.

Phoenix received strong contributions from stars Kevin Durant (29 points) and Devin Booker (36 points) but still couldn't beat one of the league's worst teams without its best player.

As ESPN's Tim McMahon noted, the Spurs were without rookie phenom Victor Wembanyama. If that's not bad enough for the Suns (42-30, eighth in Western Conference), they have a brutal schedule over their final 10 games, which means Monday's loss could have sealed their fate as a play-in team.

The Suns, who have the NBA’s most difficult remaining schedule in terms of opponents’ winning percentage, just lost to the Spurs with Victor Wembanyama sitting out.
— Tim MacMahon (@espn_macmahon) March 26, 2024

Per Tankathon, the Suns' remaining opponents have a combined win percentage of .648.

San Antonio (16-56, last in Western Conference) was Phoenix's final opponent with a losing record it faces. The Suns still have two games apiece with the Clippers (44-26, fourth in Western Conference), Pelicans (44-27, fifth in Western Conference) and Timberwolves (49-22, third in Western Conference).

They also play the Thunder (49-21, second in Western Conference), Kings (41-29, sixth in Western Conference), Cavaliers (44-28, third in Eastern Conference) and defending champion Nuggets (50-21, first in Western Conference).

The Suns are only 2.5 games ahead of the Lakers for eighth place in the West standings. Los Angeles has the eighth-easiest remaining schedule with five games against teams with a losing record.

As troubling as Monday's loss was, it could be a sign of things to come.

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