Suns vs. Heat: Game Preview

Well Suns fans, they're here. The Miami Heat come rolling into town tonight and in case you live under a rock or this is your first time to watch basketball, they're really good. They're the defending champions, they have the best player alive on their roster, and have one of the best benches in the NBA.

If the Suns want any chance of winning this game, literally every single player has to be on their A-game. We can't have Beasley slacking and not see players stroll right behind him. Dudley can't coast and expect to find himself open all night. Gortat and Scola have to stay out of foul trouble.

The only way we win is if either we play perfectly or the Heat decide to forfeit for some reason.

Anyways, let's look at the key match-ups:

Goran Dragic vs. Mario Chalmers/Norris Cole: This is the only match-up that I feel borderline optimistic about. Dragic has looked impressive so far in his return to Phoenix. Cole has shown signs of being a pretty decent point guard and Chalmers has the ability to shoot from outside and can also physically throw the ball to LeBron James, which is all the Heat need him for anyways. If anybody for the Suns has a a decent game, I would say it would be Dragic.

Marcin Gortat vs. Chris Bosh: When it comes to rebounding and being a defensive presence, Gortat might be an equal to Bosh, but Gortat does not have the scoring abilities that Bosh has. Right now, Bosh is averaging slightly more than 19 points per game and should be able to get his average against Phoenix. Edge goes to the Heat in the match-up of the bigs.

The Heat Bench vs. The Suns Bench: I think we can safely say the Heat also have the advantage in this one too folks. Ray Allen may not have the defensive capabilities that he had a few seasons ago due to a lingering ankle injury, but the man can still shoot better than anybody on Phoenix's roster. Allen, Rashard Lewis, and Udonis Haslem trump Shannon Brown, P.J. Tucker, and Jermaine O'Neal. Advantage favors the Heat in bench production.

LeBron James vs. The Suns Roster: LeBron is currently averaging almost 25 points per game, 9.2 rebounds per game, and 6.8 assists per game. The Suns don't really have anybody that can stop him. To be honest, I would not be surprised if he drops 40 points on us. LeBron is better than any single player on the Phoenix roster, he knows it, we know it, there's nothing we can really do about it.

The Bottom Line: I predict the Heat to win this one pretty easily. Now, it's a long season and sometimes teams get upset in the regular season, so maybe there's a 1% chance we steal this one. I don't count on it though and I expect the Suns to fall to 4-7 after this game.