All sorts of weirdness in the NBA has gone down yet we’re only entering the third week of its season. Among other things, two of the most obviously tanking teams–Phoenix and Philadelphia—have actually started out above .500.

That may not last much longer for Philadelphia, who are 4-3. They host the Spurs tomorrow and follow that up with Houston on Wednesday. From there, it’s a three–games-in-four-days kind of road trip to Atlanta, New Orleans, and Dallas. Finishing 6-6 would be a very respectable outcome.

As for the 5-2 Suns, their schedule is quite soft until the end of November. For the rest of the month they play Sacramento, Portland, and Utah all twice while playing Charlotte and Orlando once. Brooklyn and Miami also linger in the schedule and it’s a road–heavy one overall (six games on the road and four at home), but it’s a 10-game stretch where winning five is not out of reach.

Anything more would be a nice bonus for a team that on paper would be lucky to win 25 games all season, but they’ve already generated nice buzz around the league such as this tweet from Marc Stein about head coach Jeff Hornacek:

It’s tough to tell how long the Suns’ success will last, especially when we’re entering only week three of a five-month season, but who doesn’t enjoy a fairy tale? The rest of this month is set up to keep Phoenix’s going. 

Eventually, the grind of the season will get to their youthful roster. For now, they have their moment in the spotlight. Let’s see how long it lasts.

Tagged: Eric Bledsoe, Jeff Hornacek, Philadelphia 76ers, Phoenix Suns