The numbers tell the story of the current state of the 2018-19 Phoenix Suns:

  • 11-48 – NBA’s worst record. As Kelly Oubre Jr. said, the Suns are “at the bottom.”  
  • 15 – Current losing skid; games Devin Booker has missed due to injury.
  • 11 – Wins Phoenix needs to match last season’s win total.
  • 23 – Games remaining on schedule.

Phoenix can redefine their season within that last number starting Thursday at Cleveland in the first of a three-game road trip.

The Suns play Saturday at Atlanta and conclude the trip Monday at Miami.

All three have losing records, but the Hawks and Heat have already beaten the Suns. They’ll play the Cavaliers for the first time this season at Quicken Loans Arena.

Igor Kokosov said the Suns needed an “escape” after losing their 15th straight game last week at Los Angeles against the Clippers.

“We’re all going to get to escape from each other,” Kokoskov said. “I think we all need that escape emotionally from losing games, but we are who we are as a group. We belong here and if we want to change something, we have to do it as a group. Starting from each individual, understanding that we need to change.”

Having TJ Warren back would be a welcomed change as the team’s second-leading scorer has missed the last 10 games with right ankle soreness, but it won’t matter if the Suns continue to play poorly.

So how many winnable games are left on Phoenix’s remaining schedule?

  • Thursday at Cleveland (12-46)
  • Saturday at Atlanta (19-39)
  • Monday at Miami (26-30)
  • 3-1 New Orleans (26-33)
  • 3-2 L.A. Lakers (28-29)
  • 3-4 Milwaukee (43-14)
  • 3-6 New York (11-47)
  • 3-9 at Portland (34-23)
  • 3-10 at Golden State (41-16)
  • 3-13 Utah (32-25)
  • 3-15 at Houston (33-24)
  • 3-16 at New Orleans
  • 3-18 Chicago (14-44)
  • 3-21 Detroit (26-30)
  • 3-23 at Sacramento (30-27)
  • 2-25 at Utah
  • 3-27 Washington (24-34)
  • 3-30 Memphis (23-36)
  • 4-1 Cleveland
  • 4-3 Utah
  • 4-5 New Orleans
  • 4-7 at Houston
  • 4-9 at Dallas (26-31)

The Suns should win at least six more games to avoid matching the worst record in franchise history at 16-66 they set in their inaugural 1968-69 season.

That’s not a slam-dunk guarantee, though.

There are 11 teams left in their schedule with losing records, but they’ve only beaten three of them – New York, Memphis and Dallas.

Phoenix has also beaten Milwaukee, which has the NBA’s best record, and Sacramento. The Suns get the Bucks at home, but have to go to Sacramento where they lost earlier this month.

If they somehow beat the Bucks again, it’d be worth looking up if a team with the NBA’s worst record has ever beaten a team with the NBA’s best record twice in the same season.

The Suns have 13 games against teams that would make the playoffs if the season ended now or are within three games of the eighth spot – Milwaukee, Golden State, Portland, Houston, Utah, Sacramento, L.A. Lakers, Detroit, Miami and Washington.

They play the Jazz three more times with two being at home and are at Houston twice.

Those teams have postseason motivation. The Suns need to find some of their own – and play far better than they have – to not only end this current skid, but redefine what has been a horrid 2018-19 season.

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Have opinion about current state of the Suns? Reach Suns Insider Duane Rankin at [email protected] or contact him at 480-787-1240. Follow him on Twitter at @DuaneRankin.

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