Suns start hot as last year's fourth-quarter woes disappear

• They've won six in a row since losing their second game of the season to the Los Angeles Lakers. 
• This is their best start through eight games since the 2009-10 season. 

State of play: The Suns have outscored their opponents in the fourth quarter in six of their eight games. 

• Of the two in which they were outscored in the final quarter, one was the Lakers loss. In the other, Phoenix nearly collapsed in the fourth quarter when the Portland Trailblazers outscored them 32-16, but the Suns held on for a close win. 

Context: That's a stark difference from last season, when the Suns were the worst fourth-quarter team.

• So far this season they're middle-of-the-pack, but fourth-quarter problems aren't costing them games like last year. 

Zoom in: With their improved fourth-quarter performance has come a tendency to close out close games. 

• Their average margin of victory is about 5.5 points. 

Between the lines: The Suns have noticeably improved their assist-to-turnover ratio from last season, and new point guard Tyus Jones has one of the best ratios in the league. 

• They're one of the NBA's top defensive rebounding teams, though they're among the worst at offensive boards. 
• At 36 years old, Kevin Durant remains one of the league's top scorers with 27.8 points per game, and he has an impressive field goal percentage of 55.1%. 
• Rookie Ryan Dunn is turning heads and looking like a steal after getting picked 28th in the NBA Draft. 

The bottom line: It's very early and anything can happen, but this year's Suns look like a substantial improvement over last season's underperforming squad.