Who: Phoenix Suns (19-14) vs. Sacramento Kings (8-26)
When: 7:00pm Arizona Time
Where: Mortgage Matchup Center — Phoenix, Arizona
Watch: Arizona’s Family 3TV, Arizona’s Family Sports, NBATV
Listen: KMVP 98.7
The Phoenix Suns are returning home after a successful 4-1 road trip. After getting diced up by a Cleveland team on New Year’s Eve, the Suns will be hungry to get back into the win column against the Sacramento Kings. The Kings are missing multiple star players, Domantas Sabonis and Zach LaVine, and are on the second
night of a back-to-back. It is not a must-win game for the Suns, but it is a game on the schedule that the Suns should win, and these are the games the Suns have to win in a competitive Western Conference.
But if you are expecting an easy win, the Kings are not going to roll over and let the Suns cruise to victory. That is not in the DNA of Sacramento’s guards DeMar DeRozan, Russell Westbrook, Malik Monk, or Dennis Schroder, who all can go off on any given night.
Probable Starters
Injury Report
Suns
- Grayson Allen — QUESTIONABLE (Knee Injury Management)
- Jalen Green — OUT (Right Hamstring Strain)
- Jordan Goodwin — IN (Jaw sprain)
Sacramento Kings
- Domantas Sabonis — OUT (Partial Meniscus Tear)
- Zach LaVine — OUT (Ankle Sprain)
- Dylan Cardwell — OUT (G-League-Two-Way)
- Daeqwon Plowden OUT (G-League-Two-Way)
What to Watch For
Mark Williams has been a dominant physical presence against the Sacramento Kings this season. In two games against Sacramento, the Phoenix Suns’ big man is averaging 13.5 points and 13.5 rebounds. Williams can feast on Sacramento’s front line of Precious Achiuwa, rookie center Maxime Reynaud, and Drew Eubanks because of his physical size and strength. His teammates just have to find him consistently and reward him for his high-effort plays. Williams will ‘bring the boom’ this game.
This season, the Suns are 28th in the NBA in shots attempted within five feet from the basket. However, the Kings have the second-worst defensive field goal percentage within six feet from the basket, at 67.7%. Will the Suns continue to shoot a lot of threes and midrange twos, or will they take advantage of the lack of rim protection and dominate points in the paint?
Defensively, the Kings’ guards present a difficult challenge, even though the Kings have only eight games this season. DeRozan, Monk, Westbrook, Shroder, and Keegan Murray are all players who can and have beaten the Suns in the past. The Suns’ guards have to force DeRozan and Monk to take difficult shots. Jordan Goodwin, Collin Gillespie, and of course every Suns’ fans’ favorite villain, Dillon Brooks defending Sacramento’s guard-heavy rotation, which will be exciting to watch. Expect to see some fireworks between Brooks and DeRozan, who have already gone at it multiple times already this season.
Two Keys to a Suns Win + a bonus prediction
The Suns in their last five games have rebounded a staggering 40.7% of their missed shots, and Williams will the way in that regard. If the Suns continue to attack the glass with that same level of success, the Kings do not have the horses to compete for a full 48 minutes if the Suns are rebounding at that clip.
This season, the Phoenix Suns have managed to not just survive minutes with Devin Booker off the floor but thrive in them. Jordan Goodwin, Ryan Dunn, and Jamaree Bouyea have played well on both ends of the floor, and the Suns will need them to play well against Monk and Schroder, the Kings’ two key bench rotation players. If the Suns’ bench can keep pace with the Kings’ microwave scorers, the Suns will win convincingly. If Schroder or Monk go on a heater, the Suns will be in another dog fight, and the clutch play of Booker and Brooks will be needed again.
The bonus prediction is about Devin Booker, who has yet to score 40 or more points in a game this season.
Typically, Booker has at least a month every season where he goes on a lethal scoring barrage. The Suns do not need a vintage 40-point game from Booker to beat the Kings, but the Kings’ lackluster defense and personnel are the perfect opportunity for Booker. My prediction is that Booker will score 40 for the first time this year and that this game could potentially be the starting point for one of his ballistic scoring stretches.
Prediction
The Suns improve to 3-0 vs the Kings this season.
Suns 125, Kings 109
