From worst to first: Phoenix Suns continuing a most remarkable turnaround

The remarkable resurrection of the Phoenix Suns continues.

A franchise that averaged 60 losses for four straight seasons ending in 2018-19 kept pace with the Utah Jazz for the NBA’s best record after Tuesday’s 134-118 overtime win over the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Having already clinched a playoff spot for the first time since 2010, the Suns are trying to complete one of the more impressive two-year turnarounds in modern NBA history. Their 63 losses in 2018-19 were the most in the Western Conference. Their 47 wins so far this season ties them for the league’s best record.

In Tuesday’s game, Devin Booker and Chris Paul led the way by scoring 31 and 23 points, respectively, to lead the Suns to their fifth straight win.

The Suns couldn’t get much separation from the short-handed Cavaliers during regulation, even though Cleveland was missing six players, including starting point guard Darius Garland. It wasn’t until overtime that the Suns put the game away, scoring the first 15 points to open up a 129-114 lead.

“Our team, we've been in so many of these situations with this group this season,” Suns coach Monty Williams said. “So we don't take it for granted, but I think there is some confidence that we can pull games out like that. I didn't expect at 15-0 run, whatever it was. I didn't expect that, but our defense was at such a high level, it actually went up a level.”

The road gets tougher for the Suns in their quest for the No. 1 seed in the West. They will end their three-game road trip Wednesday at Atlanta in the second of a back-to-back. Then five of Phoenix’s final seven games are on the road — all against teams in the postseason or play-in mix.

Here are four more things to know today in the NBA:

Feeling at home

Tim Hardaway Jr. has always felt at home when playing in Miami. After all, he starred at Miami Palmetto Senior High and got to shoot around on the courts at American Airlines Arena as a kid while his dad played six seasons with the Heat.

Hardaway Jr. hit 10 3-pointers and scored 36 points to lead the Dallas Mavericks to a 127-113 win over the Miami Heat. Hardaway tied the Mavericks franchise record for 3’s in a game and became the third player to ever make that many in a game against Miami.

Hardaway Sr.’s No. 10 jersey was retired by the Heat in 2009, with Hardaway Jr. among his 50 family and friends in attendance.

An MVP threepeat?

Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokic is widely viewed as the MVP frontrunner, but Giannis Antetokounmpo could steal a few first-place votes.

After hovering just above .500 for the first two months of the season, the Milwaukee Bucks are back in the mix for one of the top seeds in the Eastern Conference. After sweeping back-to-back games with the Brooklyn Nets, the Bucks are just 1½ games behind the No. 2 Nets. They are 3 games behind No. 1 Philadelphia.

The main reason for the Bucks' resurgence is Antetokounmpo. He is averaging 28.5 points, 11.1 rebounds and 5.9 assists for the Bucks this season, and he carried the Bucks in the two-game series against the Nets with 36 points in Tuesday’s game after scoring 49 in Sunday’s win.

Antetokounmpo's stats are comparable to his two MVP campaigns. But only three players in league history have won three consecutive MVP awards: Bill Russell (1961-63), Wilt Chamberlain (1966-68) and Larry Bird (1984-86).

Jokic is the odds-on favorite to win his first MVP. He averages 26.3 points, 10.9 rebounds and 8.5 assists, and he has carried the Nuggets to a 9-2 record since losing starting point guard Jamal Murray to a season-ending ACL injury.

Sending a message

After a poor shooting night in which he hit just 3 of 18 in Monday’s loss to the Golden State Warriors, New Orleans Pelicans guard Lonzo Ball texted an apology to Zion Williamson vowing to do better.

“I just knew I let my team down and I wasn’t going to do that two nights in a row,” Ball said on the motivations for the text. “I know the type of player I am and I believe in myself. I was very confident coming into tonight. I knew I wasn’t going to shoot 3-of-18 again. I just wanted to let (Zion) know I was going to be there with him tonight and I did my best doing that.”

Ball made amends by scoring 33 points to lead the Pelicans to a 108-103 win over the Warriors on Tuesday.

Game of the night: Wizards at Bucks

Wizards guard Russell Westbrook has become appointment television. Westbrook’s eye-popping stat line in Monday’s win over the Indiana Pacers — 14 points, 21 rebounds, 24 assists — was his 18th triple-double in the past 22 games. Westbrook is now just three short of Oscar Robertson’s record total of 181. The Bucks are pretty much locked in the No. 3 seed and are in playoff-prep mode at this point.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Phoenix Suns continue turnaround, seek NBA Western Conference top seed