Number 2: The Phoenix Suns
The Denver Nuggets have the Western Conference’s best record. But they come into the postseason losers of five of their last seven games. Nikola Jokis’ MVP-esque regular seasons haven’t translated into dominant postseason success. So the Nuggets don’t seem to be the biggest threat this spring. However, another Western conference team is getting hot. The Phoenix Suns, have won seven of their previous nine games. They’ve been stellar since trading for Kevin Durant at the deadline.
Durant will fuel a Suns stacked Suns team with young stars Devin Booker, and Deandre Ayton and aging star Chris Paul. The Suns collapsed in the playoffs to the Dallas Mavericks in the second round last year after making the NBA Finals in 2021. That was an epic blunder that won’t happen with Durant added to the team.
The Suns are the biggest Western Conference threat to the Bucks this postseason. A potential 2021 NBA Finals rematch would be much different with Durant on the Suns than the team the Bucks dominated en route to a 4-2 series victory. Durant would be the biggest difference, but Ayton’s matchup on Giannis’ height, strength, and speed is the biggest factor in the likely NBA Finals matchup.
The Bucks won both regular season matchups against the Suns.