{"id":587710,"date":"2026-04-05T20:17:09","date_gmt":"2026-04-05T20:17:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/587710\/"},"modified":"2026-04-05T20:17:09","modified_gmt":"2026-04-05T20:17:09","slug":"suns-locked-in-play-in-with-loss-and-t-wolves-win","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/587710\/","title":{"rendered":"Suns locked in play-in with loss and T-Wolves win"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Phoenix Suns have five games left in the regular season and only a 0.3% chance of being the No. 6 seed in the Western Conference. A loss paired with a Minnesota Timberwolves win on Sunday will lock them<\/a> into the play-in tournament.<\/p>\n

Phoenix<\/a> (42-35) plays at the Chicago Bulls (29-48) with tipoff at 12:30 p.m. and Minnesota (46-31), currently sitting in the sixth spot, hosts the Charlotte Hornets at 4 p.m.<\/p>\n

As things stand entering Sunday, the Suns have a 53.4% chance of earning the No. 7 seed in the final postseason picture and a 24.5% chance of landing at No. 8, according to odds by Basketball-Reference.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n

All other Western Conference teams still in playoff contention have locked up their status as either play-in or top-six seeds.<\/p>\n

Phoenix trails Minnesota by four games, and it needs to finish the final five contests tied or ahead of the T-Wolves with it holding the head-to-head tiebreaker. The Suns won the season series 2-1, capturing the first two games in November and December before falling in mid-March.<\/p>\n

The Suns hold a 2.5-game edge over the Portland Trail Blazers (40-38), who currently reside in the No. 8 position. Phoenix also wins that tiebreaker, having won the series 2-1 over Portland.<\/p>\n

The Los Angeles Clippers (39-38) sit three games back of the Suns and matched them in the regular season 2-2. If the two teams ended the season with an identical record, the next tiebreaker is divisional record, which Phoenix has the advantage at 10-6 to L.A.\u2019s 8-6.<\/p>\n

Suns remaining schedule before postseason<\/p>\n

Sunday at 12:30 p.m.: at\u00a0Chicago Bulls (29-48)<\/p>\n

Tuesday at 8 p.m.:\u00a0vs. Houston Rockets (48-29)<\/p>\n

Wednesday at 7 p.m.:\u00a0vs. Dallas Mavericks (24-53)<\/p>\n

Friday at 7:30 p.m.:\u00a0at Los Angeles Lakers (50-27)<\/p>\n

Sunday at 5:30 p.m.:\u00a0at Oklahoma City Thunder (61-16)<\/p>\n

Full Western Conference playoff picture<\/p>\n

Thunder (61-16), GB: \u2014
\nSpurs (59-19), GB: 2.5
\nLakers (50-27), GB: 11
\nNuggets (50-28), GB: 11.5
\nRockets (48-29), GB: 13
\nT-Wolves (46-31), GB: 15
\nSuns (42-35), GB: 19
\nTrail Blazers (40-38), GB: 21.5
\nClippers (39-38), GB: 22
\nWarriors (36-41), GB: 25<\/p>\n

Follow @pwmoses11<\/a><\/p>\n

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