Teams can be categorized in different ways, but before we label them, we have to take their expectations into consideration. For example, the San Antonio Spurs would probably be sick over a 48-win season, whereas the Philadelphia 76ers would forget about their winning Powerball ticket because of their elation. The Phoenix Suns aren’t as black-and-white, but they are turning a major corner.

After shocking the NBA last season by winning 48 games after being expected to finish near the Western Conference basement, the Suns entered the 2014-15 season with a different set of expectations. The media and the fans started looking at the Suns as a team that, while not a championship contender, was a team expected to fight for one of the lower playoff seeds.

The problem was — the Suns had bought into their own hype a bit and didn’t have the same chip on their shoulder that they did in 2013-14. Bad home losses to the Charlotte Hornets and Orlando Magic weren’t enough to flick the proverbial light switch. It took an embarrassing stretch of games that included six straight losses, with the signature loss being a horrid home loss to the lowly Detroit Pistons to get the Suns to take notice.

CHANGE STARTS AT THE TOP

After defeating the Dallas Mavericks 124-115 on Tuesday night, you’d think the post-game press conference would be jovial. I’ve spoken to coach Jeff Hornacek after big wins (like San Antonio or Golden State) and I’ve talked to him after crushing losses (like Milwaukee or Sacramento), but never has he left his expected emotional range — his sliding scale that goes from “disappointed” to “pleased.”

Coach Hornacek isn’t the most fired-up guy in the world. He’s stoic, he’s even-keeled and he’s a calming influence. Last night, we saw a different Hornacek.

Riding a four-game winning streak, I expected to see a beaming Hornacek, happy to answer questions with the kind of excitement that a winning streak should provide. Instead, the Suns coach was dark, concerned and to be quite frank — he looked like he was pissed.

Instead of being happy with the win, Hornacek was upset with the comedy of errors that occurred throughout the game. He was mad at Gerald Green for literally handing the ball away during a key stretch when the Mavs were trimming the lead. He was mad at his team for allowing 41 points in the fourth quarter. He was mad at his team committing three quick fouls in the fourth quarter, because he knew that it could lead to more easy points and a way back into the game for Dallas.

Coach Hornacek has shifted his way of thinking — he expects this team to compete and he expects them to be more focused. Instead of being the happy father that hangs up a fifth-place ribbon, he wants to know why that fifth-place wasn’t a first-place trophy.

It’s this kind of firm-but-fair coaching that has been needed for quite some time. Coach Alvin Gentry was a bit too player-friendly. Coach Lindsey Hunter was too standoffish and his tirades on the sideline were eventually ignored. Hornacek has found a middle ground, where his players are listening, because they’re seeing results. They’re seeing the fruits of their labors and believe me — messages are better received when those messages turn into positive events.

MESHING AS A UNIT

For most of the season, I’ve been openly questioning whether this team enjoys playing together. In wins, they were business-like, almost like they should be shaking hands instead of giving high-fives. In losses, they were business-like, answering post-game questions begrudgingly because it’s “part of the job.”

I asked, I pressed and I begged for some kind of explanation as to why the team didn’t, well, play as a team. They weren’t rushing to their fallen comrade’s aid when they were knocked to the floor. They weren’t slapping hands at the foul line between shots. Aside from the end of the bench explosions from Shavlik Randolph, Anthony Tolliver and Archie Goodwin, the team seemed to give each other golf claps instead of rousing ovations when things were going well.

When I asked Tolliver about the closeness of the team and how they don’t appear as if they’re enjoying themselves, he played it off as “just how we have to act around you guys (the media). Behind closed doors it’s a much different story.”

Last night, it was a much different story — and it was out in the open for everyone to see. The Suns looked like a different team both on and off the court. On the court, the players were smiling, embracing and coming together in a show of camaraderie that we haven’t seen. At the end of the first half, the players (most notably Eric Bledsoe and Goran Dragic) were exuberant, happy and excited to don the Suns unis.

At the end of the game — after a four-minute frenzy in which Bledsoe took a year off of his life chasing one rebound — Bledsoe stole a rebound away from Dragic to complete his second triple-double of the season (16 points, 10 rebounds, 11 assists, 3 steals). Bledsoe was so excited he started running back down the court, leaving Dragic sprawled out on the floor. Like a chicken with his head cut off, Bled ran back and forth, torn on whether to go back to help Dragic or to get back on D (he ended up doing both).

In the lockerroom after the game, there was that sense of optimism and glee that’s been lacking this season. The players were vocal, including a funny interaction between Bledsoe and Dragic where Goran told Eric that he owes him lunch after that one. The usually quiet Markieff Morris was chatting it up. P.J. Tucker and Isaiah Thomas had some competitive banter going back and forth. It was a joy to see — and it’s something we need to see more of.

The Suns sit at 16-14, good for eighth in the West. They head back out on the road for a four-game stretch against Sacramento, Los Angeles, New Orleans and Oklahoma City where they’ll have the opportunity to continue their momentum and ideally, they’ll continue to get closer as a unit. They’ve matured and have meshed as a unit and have come a long way since the season’s opener. Let’s hope that spending the holiday’s together keeps that trend going.