Game Preview: Suns V. Rockets

by Wil Cantrell on Jan 31, 2010 11:07 AM MST in Phoenix Suns: Game Coverage

Tonight the Suns travel to the Lone Star state for a throw down with the Houston Rockets. The Suns have stepped up in both match ups versus the rough and tumble Rockets for two hard fought victories. The last game versus Houston consisted of some insane runs with the Suns bench finally shutting down Brooks and Landry in the 4th to come out on top, 118-110.

The Rockets are coming off of a big victory versus a short handed Blazers squad 104-100, with the usual suspects Brooks and Landry going for 33 and 21 respectively. Tonight Houston must play without guard Kyle Lowry who is out with a sprained knee. In his place we will most likely see Wil Conroy.

It goes without saying that every Western Conference matchup is important for the Suns if they hope to stay in the playoff hunt. Taking the series from the Rockets may be especially important since the two squads are looking to obtain a spot in the lower portion of the seeding, if a tiebreaker situation comes into effect.

The Rockets aren't exactly having an easy time on this home stand. They began their 6 game stretch with losses to Chicago, Atlanta, and Denver before beating Portland. They are 5-5 in their last ten games and find themselves 4.5 back of Dallas in the Southwest, tied with Memphis and OKC for the 9th spot in the WC.

At the moment, the Suns find themselves 7th in the WC, a half game back of Portland and a half game up on New Orleans. A victory to follow the Mavs win would be HUGE for our beloved Suns, and bolster their confidence going into the All Star Break.

Keys to the Game

The usual here.

Defense. Rebounds. Containment. We know what Houston brings. Slow Brooks, challenge Landry. Let Ariza jack up 11 threes like last time (he's shooting 30% this season). Robin Lopez did a nice job at the end of the January 7 game limiting Landry's effectiveness. It would be nice to see Amare Stoudemire pick up 2 or 3 boards (there are many numbers greater than 1). Then again, Pony Boy Amundson and the rest of the bench stepped up big in MAX's stead against the Mavs, so maybe it doesn't even matter. The Suns could use the 25 and 11 STAT put up last time out against Houston.

Numbers

The Suns have scored at least 110 points in each of the last four meetings with the Rockets
Steve Nash has averaged 23.8 points and 14.5 assists in the last four HOU-PHX matchups.
Carl Landry averages 17 and 6 versus the Suns (6 games), while shooting 66%
Aaron Brooks averages 17 points and shoots 47% from beyond the arc in 7 games versus the Suns
The Suns have beaten every Southwest Division team at least once this season, accounting for 6 victories
The Rockets and Suns rank 8 and 9 in the rebounding category in the West with 42 and 41.8 RPG.
The Suns are second in the WC in FG% at 48%, the Rockets are 14th at 44% PG.
The Suns lead the league in scoring at 109.9 pg. The Rockets are 15th with 100.7 pg.

			FG			3PT			FT			Rebounds			Misc
	G	M	M	A	Pct	M	A	Pct	M	A	Pct	Off	Def	Tot	Ast	TO	Stl	Blk	PF	PPG
Aaron Brooks	46	35.4	6.7	15.4	43.2	2.4	6.1	39.4	3.3	4.0	81.6	0.6	1.8	2.4	5.0	2.9	0.8	0.2	2.4	19.0
Carl Landry	45	27.3	5.9	10.8	54.8	0.0	0.0	0.0	4.4	5.3	84.0	2.3	3.0	5.4	0.7	1.7	0.5	0.9	2.9	16.3
Trevor Ariza	45	38.1	5.7	15.1	37.9	1.8	5.9	30.1	2.2	3.4	64.5	1.0	4.6	5.6	3.6	2.4	1.7	0.4	2.2	15.4
Luis Scola	46	30.8	6.5	12.5	52.2	0.0	0.1	33.3	2.0	2.7	73.6	2.0	6.7	8.8	1.8	1.7	0.7	0.3	2.8	15.0
Kyle Lowry	46	25.0	2.6	6.4	40.2	0.6	1.9	29.9	3.0	3.7	79.7	1.5	2.6	4.1	4.7	1.8	1.0	0.2	2.8	8.7
Shane Battier	46	33.1	2.8	6.9	40.4	1.5	4.2	36.1	1.2	1.5	77.1	1.1	3.0	4.1	2.4	1.0	0.8	1.0	2.1	8.2
Chase Budinger	38	18.5	2.9	7.2	40.7	1.1	3.3	34.4	0.9	1.2	78.3	0.4	2.2	2.7	1.1	0.7	0.4	0.1	1.2	8.0
David Andersen	46	14.2	2.3	5.4	42.7	0.4	1.3	28.8	0.7	1.0	71.7	0.7	2.3	3.1	0.8	0.4	0.2	0.2	2.0	5.7
Chuck Hayes	46	21.8	2.1	4.7	45.4	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.5	0.9	52.5	2.2	3.8	6.0	1.7	0.9	0.9	0.5	2.5	4.7
Tracy McGrady	6	7.5	1.2	3.2	36.8	0.2	0.3	50.0	0.7	1.0	66.7	0.0	0.8	0.8	1.0	0.2	0.0	0.3	0.3	3.2
Brian Cook	11	2.3	0.4	0.8	44.4	0.2	0.5	33.3	0.3	0.5	60.0	0.0	0.6	0.6	0.1	0.5	0.0	0.0	0.4	1.2
Joey Dorsey	1	2.0	0.0	1.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	1.0	0.0	1.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0

And...A Special Sunday Morning Treat For You All: What is Jared Dudley Tweeting Today?

"Do u think a NBA team should be able to send a player home..ex T Mac, Jamal timsley..It even happened with Marbury..No one even talks about it..Dallas did it with Shawn Williams..."

Alright, so should an NBA team be able to send a player home? Discuss....

Suns vs Rockets coverage

Suns vs Rockets preview

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Comments

Conroy

I’ve seen this guy play a lot. He’s strong and aggressive getting to the rim. He plays with a lot of swagger. He’s kind of like Marcus Banks in that he’s skilled but also a bit of a head case.

Don’t be surprised though if he drops 12…should be a good match-up for Dragic

Blogging Suns Basketball . twitter: @sethpo

by Seth Pollack on Jan 31, 2010 12:16 PM MST reply actions

Hello. Can you elaborate on Banks being a head case? I didn’t know about this. Whoever said he had an attitude problem must have meant the same thing.

by species8473 on Jan 31, 2010 1:20 PM MST up reply actions

any word on Nash

last I heard he was “iffy” for the game…any updates?

by ArizonaCactus on Jan 31, 2010 1:11 PM MST reply actions

Nash

Should play tonight, reports Paul Coro.

Blogging Suns Basketball. Twitter: @willcantrellphx

by Wil Cantrell on Jan 31, 2010 4:26 PM MST up reply actions

Goran Dragic can fill in capably enough that if Barbosa were here to back him up, Nash could rest.

by species8473 on Jan 31, 2010 4:49 PM MST up reply actions

Landry!

If Landry performs like he did in that Portland game, it will probably validate my belief that he should be sought in any Amare Stoudemire trade with the Rocks. Notwithstanding that the Rockets probably don’t want to give him up (why should they?), and notwithstanding that I no longer think Stoudemire will be traded this season.

by species8473 on Jan 31, 2010 1:23 PM MST reply actions

Why are u so sure we won't trade him?

We can’t afford losing him this summer. And, sombody correct me if I’m wrong, does Amare become UNrestricted if he opts out?

by Lorenzo Franceschi Bicchierai on Jan 31, 2010 2:37 PM MST up reply actions

Yep completely and utterly free to go wherever he likes

by DaveJD on Jan 31, 2010 3:22 PM MST up reply actions

I’m not so sure; not sure enough that I could guarantee it. I certainly don’t have inside information. But I’m more sure of it than of his being traded. Also, I only said “this season.” This summer, when traded players won’t have to be integrated into their new teams team on the fly, is much more likely.

The factors indicating to me that he probably won’t be traded in a hurry are that Stoudemire is not a Marbury-like disaster needing to be dumped ASAP, and that every trade rumor so far has been smoke.

by species8473 on Jan 31, 2010 3:22 PM MST up reply actions

" It would be nice to see Amare Stoudemire pick up 2 or 3 boards (there are many numbers greater than 1). "

Lol

by Superelkman on Jan 31, 2010 1:27 PM MST reply actions

I predict we are soon to witness an Amare

gorilla game

or at least, I hope. this one we gotta have, as well as tomorrow against New Orleans.
We have to head into the all-star weekend with some momentum.

by ArizonaCactus on Jan 31, 2010 3:54 PM MST reply actions

That would either give the Suns less reason to trade him, or give other teams more reason to trade for him (more likely). Either way, it would be great.

by species8473 on Jan 31, 2010 4:22 PM MST up reply actions