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What: Phoenix Suns (24-5) @ Los Angeles Lakers (16-15)
When: 8:00 PM AZ Time
Where: STAPLES CENTER
Watch: Bally’s Sports AZ
Listen: 98.7 FM
The Phoenix Suns lineup is starting to come together as they take on the Los Angeles Lakers, whos team is starting to fall apart.
Like most of the NBA, the Lakers are losing players to Covid and new faces will appear on your tv screen tonight that you may have never seen or heard of.
It would be unlikely for the Suns to lose focus and fall to a shorthanded Lakers team like the Arizona Cardinals did to a very bad Detroit Lions team.
Starting Lineups
Phoenix
- Chris Paul
- Devin Booker
- Mikal Bridges
- Jae Crowder
- Deandre Ayton
Injuries: Abdel Nadar (out), Dario Saric (out), Frank Kaminsky (out)
Los Angeles
- Isaiah Thomas
- Russell Westbrook
- LeBron James
- Wayne Ellington
- DeAndre Jordan
Injuries: Kendrick Nunn, Kent Bazemore, Malik Monk, Anthony Davis, Austin Reaves, Dwight Howard, Avery Bradley, Talen Horton-Tucker (all out)
The Suns Report
After weeks of no Devin Booker, his return points the Suns in the right direction when it comes to regrouping and getting back to what was working on the offensive side of the ball.
When a superstar returns to the starting lineup after missing some time, there is usually a sense of pressure in getting the team back on track. Booker had no pressure and will have time to get his legs under him.
Before Bookers injury, the 18-game win streak showed how flawless at times the Suns offense was, without Booker, it looked messy at times, but for the most part, the Suns kept it together.
Mikal Bridges did have the added pressure of trying to be the third option next to Deandre Ayton and Chris Paul. It did not go well in Bridges favor, but now with Booker back in the lineup, you can could see in the game against the Charlotte Hornets on Sunday night, that Bridges was able to look a little more comfortable.
Ayton and Paul have figured out the pick-and-roll, and JaVale McGee is battling with Cameron Johnson for the sixth-man of the year award. All is coming back into place and the winning continues to pile here in the valley.
The Lakers Report
Off-season transactions that haven't shaken out well for the Lakers, including the addition of Russell Westbrook, has the the rest of the Western Conference praying it stays this way. And the Lakers continue to plummet in the standings.
Anthony Davis has fell to another injury, that could cost him and the Lakers a month. How will LeBron James handle this situation?
Trades could happen or James could call it a season this early on. It is a very steep uphill battle for the Lakers in the West. If James can pull off a miracle this season and somehow stay healthy for the playoffs, including AD, the Lakers can still be scary.
For right now, the Lakers are falling apart and Suns fans are eating it up!
The one story and player to root for would be the return of Isaiah Thomas. A familiar name to the valley and a replacement player sent from the G-League, due to the Covid outbreak for the Lakers.
The Prediction
Bad luck for the Lakers as of late with the Covid issues and AD missing time due to an injury. The Suns definitely outnumber an already top-heavy team in the Lakers. Expect a blowout win for the Suns and maybe a LeBron James incident where he quits on his team?
Suns 124, Lakers 97
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