NBA scores 2015: The Suns can still make the playoffs and 3 other things we learned

Phoenix looked like it was out of the race a couple weeks ago, but a window has opened up.

by Tim Cato

Mar 22, 2015, 1:00 PM UTC

Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports

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The Phoenix Suns were declared dead and out of the playoff race weeks ago. The Thunder caught and passed them, and then the Pelicans did the same. Their flurry of trade deadline activity that shipped away Goran Dragic and Isaiah Thomas while bringing in Brandon Knight failed to pay immediate dividends. Everyone felt bad for them, because the Western Conference is just so tough, but that was the reality.

On Saturday, the Suns beat the Rockets, 117-102, at home. It's their third straight win and four in their last five. More importantly, their last win on Thursday was a huge one against the Pelicans. Anthony Davis didn't play and the Suns capitalized -- barely -- in a 74-72 win, now only trailing New Orleans by half a game and the Thunder by 2.5 games.

Of course, this still isn't all about what the Suns have done. The Thunder would be the favorite if not being struck with injuries again. The latest being Serge Ibaka missing several weeks and Kevin Durant stopping all basketball activities while his injured foot fails to make progress. The Pelicans are injury stricken, too: Anthony Davis has missed the last two games with an ankle injury, Ryan Anderson is still a week from returning and Tyreke Evans is hampered with an ankle issue of his own.

But there’s no sympathy for injured stars on the hardwood. In the final weeks of the regular season, the Suns have a legitimate shot to slip past those two if they can keep this type of play up. The game Saturday was a clear step in the right direction.

After an initial miss to open the third quarter, the Suns made nine straight shots in the second half against Houston on their way to a 37-point quarter. On the day Steve Nash announced his retirement, it was fitting the Suns played up-and-down, offense heavy just like the Suns of old.

Houston pushed for a late comeback, but a corner P.J. Tucker three-pointer with 3:02 left in the fourth quarter helped stave the Rockets off. The shot gave Tucker 19 points on 8-of-12 shooting, while Eric Bledsoe finished with 34 points on 11-of-18 shooting, four assists and three steals.

These injuries may not be fair to the Thunder or Pelicans, but it’s created an opportunity for the Suns that they must try to take advantage of.

3 other things we learned

Oh no -- the Bulls. Chicago was up 19 points in the third quarter against Detroit and then gave up a 54-19 run to lose, 107-91. The Bulls were smothered in the final quarter and a half by a makeshift Detroit lineup that played Joel Anthony and Tayshaun Prince at power forward because Greg Monroe was injured. Reggie Jackson put up 22 points and 11 assists while Caron Butler added 20 of his own on 7-of-11 shooting in the complete Bulls collapse.

The Grizzlies are having a better weekend than you are. After trashing the Mavericks, 112-101, in Dallas on Friday, Memphis flew home to knock off the Trail Blazers, 97-86, on Saturday -- two very impressive results for such a tough back-to-back. Memphis had struggled a little bit coming out of the All-Star break and coming into the game against the Mavericks had lost four of seven games. It seems like those problems are well behind them at this point, though. For Portland, the loss isn't as important as more immediate concerns about the health of LaMarcus Aldridge and Nicolas Batum, who both left the game early.

For the last time, are the Nets about to figure this thing out or what? Over and over this season, Brooklyn has appeared to come together and started to play well before regressing back to a team that's poor on both ends that just looks old. On Saturday, the Nets once again showed their good side, beating the struggling Pacers, 123-111, while Brook Lopez added 26 points on 11-of-14 shooting and Bojan Bogdanovic shot a perfect 8-of-8 off the bench for 21 points. This Nets team that shoots the ball well, does enough on the defensive end to get by and looks like an all-around capable basketball team can be fun, but is it actually here to stay? History says it's not.