Just how important is home-court advantage in the 1st Round? Let’s dive into the numbers.

The return of Kevin Durant couldn’t come at a better time for the Phoenix Suns than now. Not only do they need the reps together, but solidifying home-court advantage in the process will be huge.

Minnesota currently sits just 1.5 games back from Phoenix, while the Clippers are 0.5 games back and Golden State is just 1 game behind the Suns. The Western Conference is an absolute cluster of teams fighting for the 4-11 seeds.

Phoenix needs to secure this win to gain a bit of breathing room between them and the play-in teams, but more importantly the Clippers and Warriors who are tailing them.