The Suns (9-6) face the Minnesota Timberwolves (10-5) on Friday, Nov. 21, in an NBA Cup West Group A battle at Mortgage Matchup Center. They follow that with the first of a back-to-back against the San Antonio Spurs (10-4) on Nov. 23, followed by the Houston Rockets (10-3) on Nov. 24 in the return of Kevin Durant.

The Suns also received a small bump in NBA.com's power rankings, moving from No. 17 to 16. "The Suns will visit the 6-7 Blazers on Tuesday and then play eight of their next nine games against teams with winning records (seven of the nine against top-10 offenses)," wrote John Schuhmann.

The Phoenix Suns have been one of the more pleasant surprises this season, sitting at 9-6 so far, good for seventh in the Western Conference. After their failed experiment with Devin Booker, Bradley Beal,

Phoenix Suns wing Dillon Brooks said the state of officiating in the NBA needs to improve and asserted that referees are "making calls out of emotion."

The Suns are following the blueprint to win games through their effort and buy-in on what Jordan Ott is preaching

Devin Booker will be in Portland for the first time on Tuesday since breaking the Suns' all-time franchise scoring record.

The 26-year-old ranks second in total assists off the bench in the NBA (77), third in 3-pointers made (36), is tied for 10th in steals (15) and is 14th in points (158), making a real case for himself being a Sixth Man of the Year candidate if he can continue to increase his scoring a little more.