Four of the Suns’ first five games of the season feature matchups against the LA teams, along with the Mavs for the home opener. In November, they’ll face playoff-caliber teams like the Philadelphia 76ers, Miami Heat, Mavs again, Sacramento Kings (twice), Oklahoma City Thunder, Minnesota Timberwolves, Orlando Magic, New York Knicks, Lakers again, and Golden State Warriors.

In all, 13 of their first 19 games of the season will be against playoff teams from last year, and that number rises to 16 of 19 if you include play-in teams that didn’t make the final eight playoff teams.

The Suns have most of their roster from last season intact between Devin Booker, Kevin Durant, Bradley Beal, Grayson Allen, Jusuf Nurkic, Royce O’Neale, Josh Okogie and Bol Bol. Getting the new guys like Tyus Jones, Monte Morris and Mason Plumlee on the same page, not to mention building cohesion in Mike Budenholzer’s system, will be key in helping Phoenix hit the ground running against a tougher batch of opponents.

From a games played standpoint, the Suns’ toughest stretch may come in late January and February. From Jan. 31 through Feb. 25, Phoenix will play nine of their 12 games on the road, and that stretch includes four back-to-backs.

The good news is that stretch features the All-Star break and a more favorable batch of opponents, including two games against the Portland Trail Blazers, one against the Utah Jazz, two against the unpredictable Memphis Grizzlies, one against the San Antonio Spurs, one against the Chicago Bulls and one against the Toronto Raptors.

Phoenix’s toughest stretch from an opponent standpoint will likely be the last three weeks of the season. From March 24 onward, the Suns will face the Milwaukee Bucks twice, Boston Celtics twice, Minnesota Timberwolves, Houston Rockets, New York Knicks, Golden State Warriors, Oklahoma City Thunder, San Antonio Spurs and Sacramento Kings over their final 11 games to close the year out.

Christmas week is no cakewalk either, as the Suns face the Denver Nuggets twice, along with the Mavericks and Warriors before a New Year’s Eve showdown with the Grizzlies.

2. Some noteworthy games

Obviously the Suns have big games on Halloween, Christmas and New Year’s Eve, but aside from those no-brainers, there’s a few other noteworthy games to jot down on the calendar.

After getting swept by the Timberwolves last year, Phoenix will face them again for the first time on the road on Nov. 17. Their first rematch in Phoenix won’t come until Jan. 29. In that same realm of recent playoff opponents, the Suns’ first game against the Mavericks is the home opener on Oct. 26 (on the second night of a back-to-back), and their first matchup with the Nuggets is on the road on Dec. 23…two days before their Christmas showdown back in Phoenix.

One cool homecoming nugget is Kevin Durant will get to play the San Antonio Spurs on his former stomping grounds at the University of Texas at Austin on Feb. 20.

Mike Budenholzer will make his return to Milwaukee on April 1, but his first meeting against his former team will come a week earlier in a 2021 NBA Finals rematch in Phoenix on March 24. The Suns also won’t face the defending NBA champion Celtics until March 26 at home, followed by a road matchup on April 4.

And if you’re into grudge matches, the Suns didn’t have too many players leave in the offseason, but Drew Eubanks’ first game back in the Valley will be on Jan. 11 when the Utah Jazz come to visit, and Eric Gordon’s return will be on Nov. 4 when the Philadelphia 76ers come to town.

3. January is a good time to rack up wins

Despite facing gauntlets to start and end the season, the middle stretch would be a good time for Phoenix to stay healthy and rack up some wins. After games against the Indiana Pacers and Philadelphia 76ers to start the new year, the Suns will then face an easier 10-game run against the:

• Charlotte Hornets (second night of a back-to-back)
• Atlanta Hawks
• Utah Jazz
• Charlotte Hornets (second night of a back-to-back)
• Atlanta Hawks
• Washington Wizards
• Detroit Pistons
• Cleveland Cavaliers
• Brooklyn Nets
• Washington Wizards

That’s a pretty sweet stretch that would be ideal for Phoenix to capitalize on! There are only two back-to-backs over that three-week stretch, and only the Cavs made the playoffs last year out of those 10 teams.

Phoenix has slightly more back-to-backs (16) than the league average (14.9), which puts even more of an emphasis on this lighter stretch of the Suns schedule.