Facing the Fire: Navigating the Phoenix Suns’ Toughest Stretches of the Season

The Phoenix Suns today announced their 2023-24 regular season schedule, tipping off a new era of Suns basketball with two nationally televised road games against the Golden State Warriors on Tuesday, Oct. 24, followed by a game against the Los Angeles Lakers on Thursday, Oct. 26.

Phoenix will open their home schedule against the Utah Jazz on Saturday, October 28.

The full schedule can be found here.

Last season, the Phoenix Suns had a couple of brutal stretches. Some of it was scheduling, some of it was due to injuries. There was even a point in the season where the “t” word surfaced.

No, they did not tank, but there were some dark times that were endured.

Their longest losing streak(s) last season were five and six games respectively, including a stretch where they lost 9 of 10. The majority of those losses came on the road when the Suns were down a key player (or three).

No matter how good a team is, there will always be a rough patch during a grueling 82-game season. The key is mitigating the damage and getting back on track without long-term damage that impacts securing a playoff spot, or in this case, home-court advantage.

At first glance, I truly do not see anything that strikes immediate fear in terms of a “gauntlet” that Phoenix will face. That being said, there are a couple tough moments they will endure in the 2023-24 season.

Tough Five-Game Home Stretch

Despite being at home, this is a stretch that will provide some challenges. Not only are there are pair of back-to-backs, but they come against quality opponents. I personally have the Nuggets, Grizzlies, and Warriors as the top 3 projected seeds in the West, excluding the Suns.

Finishing this out 3-2 would be a success given the back-to-backs and matchups against what figures to be 3 of the top 4 teams in the Western Conference.

On the Road

The road trips to the East Coast during the middle of the season are always the toughest, regardless of opponent.

Their first game back after this road trip is a home contest against the Milwaukee Bucks. After being on the road for 12+ days, that will be a tough one to come back to.

The teams here aren’t necessarily the tough part, as the travel will be the factor I focus on. Going from Dallas to Indiana to Florida (for a back-to-back) then up to Brooklyn, then back down south to Atlanta, then capping it off with Bradley Beal’s return to DC, it looks exhausting.

Then you are welcomed home with a tough matchup against the Bucks that will air on TNT on February 6th. That seven-game road trip combined with a tough game against Milwaukee will be a true test for the Suns’ endurance.

I may need to let this sit and marinate a bit more before writing anything else off, but at first glance, these sets of games figure to be two of the immediate challenges that come to mind.

Single-game tickets for all Suns home games will go on sale on Friday, August 18, at 10:00 a.m. PT. Tickets can be purchased at Suns.com/Tix.

What part of the schedule jumps out to you the most, Suns fans? Which games are you looking forward to the most? Let us know below!