Phoenix Suns’ Slow Start Hasn’t Swayed Oddsmakers

The Suns are 14-12 heading into Tuesday night’s game against the Portland Trail Blazers and currently sit in tenth place in the Western Conference.

Kevin Durant, Devin Booker and Bradley Beal have dealt with various injuries this season and have played a grand total of one game together.

Beal sprained his ankle on Friday against the Knicks and will miss at least two weeks, continuing a frustrating campaign for the talented shooting guard who also missed substantial time with a back injury.

The choppy start has resulted in plenty of angst among Suns fans, who are questioning the fragility of the stars, the coaching acumen of Frank Vogel and the efficacy of the complementary pieces that were added this offseason.

But what do the oddsmakers think? Well, they aren’t freaking out quite yet.

Despite the woes, the Suns still have the fourth-best odds to win the NBA championship, as the sportsbooks still clearly believe in the high-end capability of this group if it can get healthy come playoff time.

Here are the top-five contenders to win the NBA title, per FanDuel on December 19th:

• Boston Celtics +370
• Denver Nuggets +420
• Milwaukee Bucks +440
• Phoenix Suns +700
• Philadelphia 76ers +1300

This is not a major change at all from before the season, when the Suns were listed at +650 to win it all behind the same three teams that currently sit ahead of them.

Despite the woes, Phoenix is only three games behind the Denver Nuggets in the standings, and the oddsmakers still see these two teams as the clear-cut favorites in the West.

The Suns would assuredly get dinged if Booker or Durant was lost for a significant stretch, but they are both healthy right now and that’s enough for the oddsmakers. 

Despite the Minnesota Timberwolves sitting at 20-5 on the year, they are still a longshot to win the conference over Denver or Phoenix.

Here is a look at the top-10 odds to win the Western Conference, via FanDuel:

• Denver Nuggets +210
• Phoenix Suns +320
• Los Angeles Clippers +900
• Los Angeles Lakers +1000
• Minnesota Timberwolves +1000
• Oklahoma City Thunder +1300
• Dallas Mavericks +1300
• Sacramento Kings +1500
• Golden State Warriors +1700
• New Orleans Pelicans +2200

The Suns have some issues, as their average margin of victory of 1.3 and all the injury woes are concerning, but home court isn’t that big of a deal in the playoffs because it’s only one game over a long series.

The fretting in Phoenix is understandable, but there are no similar thoughts among the sportsbooks at this juncture, which still have the Suns on the short-list of NBA title contenders.