The Suns have the 2nd seed locked up and, in reality, they have nothing to play for during the next two games. But there are still some things that the Suns can help decide today and tomorrow.
If the Suns beat the Rockets tonight and the Jazz beat the Rockets tomorrow, the Jazz will have home court advantage over the Rockets. This doesn't affect the Suns a lot either way since either the Jazz or the Rockets will have to get through Dallas in order to meet the Suns in the Western Conference Finals.
On Tuesday, the Suns play the Clippers. By beating the Clippers, the Suns can help the Warriors get the 8th seed in the playoffs where they will meet the Dallas Mavericks. As I mentioned in a previous post, my biggest worry is that the Lakers will continue to lose, the Warriors will continue to win and the Suns will have to face the Warriors in the first round. I think the Suns can beat the Warriors in a 7 game series but I think it will be a lot harder than beating the Lakers.
For tonight's game, Mike D'Antoni has said the Suns are going to continue starting James Jones and will continue playing their starters. At this point, the Suns are playing so well I think he has a good point about not wanting to rest the starters and maybe get out of that rhythm they are in. Even though Coach D'Antoni said that the starters are going to play regular minutes, I wouldn't expect to see them at the end of the game if the Suns or the Rockets have a 10+ point lead late in the game.
What are you thoughts on tonight's game? Should Coach D'Antoni rest the starters? Should he play everyone just like normal? Who would you like to see win tonight's game now that the outcome doesn't affect the Suns?