What: Phoenix Suns @ Orlando Magic
Where: Amway Center - Orlando, FL
When: 4:00 p.m. (AZ)
Watch: FSAZ (Locally) , NBA TV
The 6-6 Phoenix Suns will take on the 4-8 Orlando Magic in game two of their three-game road trip, which will culminate with a game against the Miami Heat on Monday.
The Suns finally broke their four game losing streak with a win over the Charlotte Bobcats on Friday night. However, it was an ugly game in which the Suns completely fell apart in the fourth quarter. On the other hand, the Magic are coming off an impressive showing against the Miami Heat in which they were leading throughout most of the game, but lost at the end by two points.
Stats:
Suns:
Magic:
Probable Starting Line-Ups:
Suns:
G - Goran Dragic
G - Gerald Green
F - P.J. Tucker
F - Channing Frye
C - Miles Plumlee
Magic:
G - Jameer Nelson
G - Victor Oladipo
F - Aaron Afflalo
F - Maurice Harkless
C - Nikola Vucevic
Keys to the Game:
The Suns are coming off an ugly win, and the Magic are coming off an impressive loss. The biggest advantage for the Suns is that they have had a full day of rest, while the Magic will be playing their second night of a back-to-back. Therefor, the Suns need to take advantage of this by pushing the pace and out-hustling the Magic for loose balls and rebounds.
The other major key is turnovers. The Suns must take care of the ball and find a way to minimize their turnovers, especially in the 4th quarter. they had 21 against the Bobcats on Friday...way too many.
On the plus side, the Suns are ranked first in the NBA in fast break points, averaging 22.5 per game...which also accounts for 22.6% of the total team offense. This is an area the Suns should continue to exploit tonight against the Magic, who are also prone to turning the ball over, averaging 18.25 of them per game.
According to Paul Coro, it's looking very unlikely that Eric Bledsoe suits up for this game, so the Suns will most likely be without him once again. The Suns have had a great deal of difficulty closing out games without him, but they will have to find a way to find a way to do so tonight if they find themselves with the lead going into the 4th quarter, as they can't afford to let another winnable game slip through their hands at the last moment.