FanPost

Tankwatch 2016 - Suns & Nets Tied Again

There is only one month left in the season and the tank race seems to be turning into pretty much a two horse run for third in the pre-lottery draft order. The Suns will never catch up to Philly, only have a very tiny chance to catch the Lakers and are pretty unlikely to win enough games to fall behind Minnesota into the fifth spot. The only real questions left are will the Suns stay in third or fall behind Brooklyn into the fourth spot and will Washington stay around the 12th spot that they are in now or lose enough games to get the ninth spot and retain their pick this year.

At least the Suns are often playing games that are enjoyable to watch whether they win or lose. There are still a few stinkers every now and then but almost every game someone steps up and gives us something to enjoy. Last time it was Mirza and PJ. Before that it was Len, Knight and Booker against GS. Before that Booker had a 35 point night against the Nuggets and even Leuer had a good game that night with 19 points and 7 rebounds in just 17 minutes. I could go on but by now I'm sure that you all know what I'm saying... at least this team has mostly been entertaining lately as well as winning a few games. And maybe the progress they have been making lately is more important than what spot their pick will fall in this year's relatively weak draft.

Update #6 - Tank-rank for each team as of 3/23/16

1. Philadelphia 76ers...................................................9-62

2. LA Lakers.................................................................15-55

3/4. Phoenix Suns.......................................................19-51

3/4. Brooklyn Nets......................................................19-51

5. Minnesota T-Wolves............................................22-48

6. New Orleans Pelicans...........................................26-44

7. Sacramento Kings. ................................................27-43

8. New York Knicks...................................................28-43

9. Denver Nuggets.......................................................29-42

10. Orlando Magic.......................................................29-41

11. Milwaukee Bucks..................................................30-41

12. Utah Jazz..................................................................34-36

13. Houston Rockets...................................................35-36

14/15. Washington/Dallas.........................................35-35

Important games tonight (3/23/16): LA Lakers @ Phoenix, Philadelphia @ Denver, Sacramento @ Minnesota and Atlanta @ WashingtonLA Lakers

Phoenix Suns: The Suns have four games this week starting with two back-to-back road games with Utah (3/17) and the Lakers (3/18). After a couple of days off, they play their next two at home against Memphis (3/21) and the Lakers (3/23). Without a doubt this will be the easiest week of the rest of the season for the Suns. Sorry, tank fans but I'm almost certain that the Suns will either fall to 4th in the tank rank or be tied with the Nets by the end of the week.

Brooklyn Nets: The Nets only have three games this week but they are all against either playoff bound teams or teams on the playoff bubble. They start with two road games against the Bulls (3/17) and the Pistons (3/19) and finish up with a home game against Charlotte (3/22).

Washington Wizards: The Wiz have four games this week, two at home and two on the road. The first game is at Philadelphia (3/17), then at home against the Knicks (3/19) and then a two game set with the Hawks, first on the road on 3/21 and then at home on 3/23. I still don't have a good handle on the Wiz but I don't expect them to do exceptionally well or exceptionally bad this week so they will probably stay around the 12th spot.