Monty Williams and the Phoenix Suns are gifted with the NBA's best foursome: guards Chris Paul and Devin Booker; forward Kevin Durant; and center Deandre Ayton.

Paul is considered one of the best point guards of all time. Durant is arguably the greatest scorer ever and Booker had a legitimate argument to be realized as the NBA's best player in the first round of the playoffs.

It is the reason why the Suns were picked to win the Western Conference by FanDuel before the postseason began. Odds have since favored the Golden State Warriors, who won the NBA championship in 2022, but Phoenix is very talented and still is capable of reaching its second NBA Finals berth in the last three seasons.

The Suns will need their star four players to contribute in order to beat the first seed in the Western Conference, the Denver Nuggets. Denver beat Phoenix in Game 1 of the Western Conference semifinals Saturday at Ball Arena, 125-107.

Phoenix did not have much contribution outside of Durant and Booker, who had 29 and 27 points, respectively. The Suns have yet to find a rhythm with their bench around their stars and it is something coach Monty Williams said he and his staff are working to figure out, via The Arizona Republic's Duane Rankin:

“It's always a challenge just based on our team makeup, when you have four guys like we have that take up a lot of your minutes,” Monty Williams said. “We're always looking at the different combinations with two of those guys always on the floor. And those kinds of things are discussions we have on a daily basis. We'll try to figure that out as we go along.”

Phoenix has typically played backup guard Landry Shamet, center Bismack Biyombo and one of forward Torrey Craig and wing Josh Okogie, who have alternated in the starting lineup. The Suns have also used guard Damion Lee–who finished second in the NBA in 3-point percentage (44.5) this season–in spots.

Phoenix is considered a thinner team than the Nuggets, who have an eight-man rotation that includes pesky wings Bruce Brown and Christian Braun. Forward Jeff Green is also a veteran presence.