Tonight is it. If they beat the Philadelphia 76ers, the Suns will have done what no other team in the history of the NBA has done. Sweep the inter-conference road games in a season. Many of you out there will be saying, "So what? It doesn't matter what the Suns do in the regular season, it's what matters in the post-season." And to you, I say, "Pbththththth." You're absolutely right that if the Suns do this and then don't win the championship, I'm not going to be reminiscing about them sweeping the East 10 years from now. But unfortunately, every team has to play the regular season. And every team has the same number of chances to sweep the opposing conference's road record. Yet it's never been done. If you think players are only concerned about the postseason, why do we keep track of most wins in the regular season (the Bulls), who scores the most each season and who the MVP is. You think Shaq doesn't think about the regular season? Then why does he have his panties in a bunch over Steve Nash winning the past two MVP's?
Ok, as you can tell, I'm very tired of people saying the regular season doesn't matter and that only the playoffs matter. That's true. We all know that the Suns are gunning for a championship and it will be very disappointing if they don't get there. But come on! Let's enjoy the season the team is having as well! It's not too often you get to experience a team like the Suns. To poo-poo away the regular season exploits doesn't give enough credit to this team.
All of that said, the bottom line is the Suns still have to come out and play the game. Last night they got down by 18 before they started playing well. Hopefully they won't do the same thing tonight. The Sixers are 19-38. They are well out of the playoffs even by Eastern Conference standards. For the Suns to lose to them tonight, it would take a choke of mighty proportions. Only Memphis and Boston have worse records. But, as they say, there's a reason they play the game. If the Suns don't come out and play hard, they could get beat. Here's hoping that doesn't happen.