2021 NBA playoffs power rankings: Are the Sixers real contenders?

Joel Embiid, Sixers (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)
Joel Embiid, Sixers (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images) /
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(Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images)
(Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images) /

. Phoenix Suns. 3. team. 66. . No. 2 seed

2021 NBA playoffs power rankings — 3. Phoenix Suns

The Suns play a beautiful brand of basketball. It’s aesthetically invigorating and statistically dominant. Chris Paul is a monster at age 36, Devin Booker has made “the leap,” and DeAndre Ayton continues to carve out his reputation as one of the best interior defenders on the planet. Beyond that, every Phoenix role player does his job, and does it well. Shouts to Monty Williams, who should have won Coach of the Year.

Phoenix is well on its way to beating Denver and probably facing Utah, but possibly LA in the conference finals. Either way, I give Phoenix a real chance to win. It’s past time CP3 made it to the Finals, and there isn’t a better coached, better led team in the league. Too many wrote off Phoenix despite having the second-best record in the NBA. To win 51 games in a 72-game season is hard, and indicative of just how good this team is.

If the Suns win the West, they would enter the Finals as favorites against Philadelphia or underdogs against Brooklyn. Either way, it would shape up to be an entertaining series. The Suns are a well-oiled machine and have all the momentum in the world. There is no team hotter than Phoenix at the moment.

The narrative and the on-court product both favor Phoenix. It’s a fun basketball team, with likable stars and a great story behind it. The Suns may eventually flame out, and they certainly aren’t title favorites, but it’s time to give them the respect they deserve. That Lakers series was not a fluke.