The Suns, a favorite against the current

• Playoffs Results and standings

The somewhat clueless fan will find it difficult to find one of the galactic of the new era of the NBA in the great favorite to the ring.

Neither

... In

, what prevails is the collective, an incentive , a cry against the current in the era of superstars.

The playoffs kick off this weekend under the influence of the scorching desert sun.

No one has won more games than the Suns.

His 64 victories in the regular season (half, 32, away), the record for a franchise that never won a ring -three Lost Finals (76, 93 and 2021)- and whose most remembered era was that of the 90s in the one who invented the

with

, are the best endorsement in a postseason as open as it was remembered.

Because there were 16 teams that fell between 53 and 42 wins, many of them the main candidates when everything started in November (in fact, for the bookmakers,

are still not the favourites).

Those from Arizona have not been spared from injuries -in fact, they have been one of the most affected by them- but the robustness of their block, the ability to cover cracks, has been their magic potion.

Of course you can also talk about proper names.

(26.8 points, five rebounds and 4.8 assists)

sneaks into the discussion for the MVP and at the doors of the legend

-at 37 years old, leader of NBA assists for the fifth time-, whose Arrival in 2020 in that painful transfer for

was what definitely propelled those from Phoenix.

Also a giant who averages a double-double (

, 17.2 points and 10.2 rebounds), the favorite for best defender of the year (

) and eight gunmen who shoot over 35% from the perimeter.

But, again, what prevails is the choral, the game of

, the third best team in defense and the fifth in attack, the ones with the best shooting percentage (48.5%).

the lost ending

As their former legend, now rival on the Nets' bench, sums up, they have it all.

«The staff, the IQ and the cohesion.

And then they have a coach who has done a tremendous job,"

admits .

They have chemistry, they have bench depth, they will have home field advantage (the Pelicans await them in the first round) and, above all, they already have the experience.

Because last year, after that exhibition in the 2020 bubble, a ring that they dreamed hard of escaped them.

Against all odds, they went 2-0 in the Finals, and against all odds, they ended up losing them: four straight losses to Milwaukee.

Since then, all the efforts and thoughts go to that stage, to that pain.

And the examples of teams that lost the final and won the next one are repeated lately: Lakers (2009), Heat (2012), Spurs (2014), Cavaliers (2016), Warriors (2017)... His mental strength, beyond the leadership of a Chris Paul who is looking for the ring that will consecrate him as one of the best point guards in history, he has been tested at the end of the match: none of them in

this course.

And they have just celebrated half a century of life.

They have no excuses, they have the focus, but they are also aware that their ring would continue to be, for many, a complete surprise.

Surely not as much as if the ring went to the Warriors, the Bucks, the Nets, the Heat, the Nuggets, the Celtics...

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