Who: Phoenix Suns (1-0) vs. Brooklyn Nets (1-0)
When: 5:00am Arizona Time
Where: Venetian Arena, Macao, China
Watch: NBATV
The Phoenix Suns traveled over 7,000 miles across the world to play the Brooklyn Nets in Macao, China, at Venetian Arena on Friday. Remember to set your alarms or your DVR, as this game tips off at 5 a.m. Arizona time.
The Suns are coming off an inspiring performance one week ago, when they routed a Lakers team without superstars LeBron James and Luka Doncic, winning 103-81.
The Suns’
front office and players have preached a change in culture and identity all offseason, and showed one step in the right direction on night one of the preseason. In China, the Suns look to battle through the jet lag, battle through distraction, and string together two positive performances against the Nets.
Against the Lakers, all 14 Suns players who played saw at least 10 minutes of game action, with the starters all playing above 20 minutes.
After missing Phoenix’s first preseason game, Jalen Green is progressing towards making his return soon, via The Arizona Republic’s Duane Rankin. If Green can play, that will be the main storyline to watch on Friday. The chemistry between him and Devin Booker will be crucial to Phoenix’s success this season.
Mark Williams, the projected starting center for Phoenix, will remain out as he continues his slow build-up to playing in games.
Two-way signing Isaiah Livers and the Suns’ second-round draft pick and summer league standout Koby Brea were the two noticeable players who got DNP’s against the Lakers last Friday night. I would expect to see both to make their preseason debuts against the Nets.
Now to the Brooklyn Nets, who are in a similar situation to the Suns; they are in the midst of a rebuild after losing Kevin Durant. The Nets are a bag of misfit toys still trying to find their superstar player(s) and set an identity. The most experienced player on Brooklyn’s roster is Michael Porter Jr., who was acquired from Denver in a trade for Cam Johnson and center Nic Claxton. Former Suns nuisance Terance Mann also is playing his first season in Brooklyn. Cam Thomas, Brooklyn’s best scorer, is back to getting buckets after missing much of last season due to injury.
The Nets drafted four rookies in the 2025 draft and traded for a fifth, many of whom we previewed at Bright Side of the Sun because they were drafted in the late 20s and near the 10th pick of the draft. Egor Demin, the Nets’ no. 8 pick, is unlikely to play on this cross-the-globe trip because of a plantar fascia tear.
Other rookies Drake Powell, Ben Saraf, Nolan Traore, and Danny Wolfe will all log minutes as well as a plethora of other young second and third-year players fighting to stay in the NBA. Brooklyn defeated Hapoel Jerusalem B.C. 123-88 last Saturday in its lone preseason game.
Probable Starters
Injury Report
Suns
- Mark Williams — OUT
- Jalen Green — DAY TO DAY
Nets
- Egior Demin — DAY TO DAY
- Drake Powell — DAY TO DAY
What to Watch For
No. 1 – Building off of Lakers’ win
The Suns played with pace, intensity, and shared the ball extremely well in their first preseason game. The Suns had 29 assists and 16 turnovers while forcing the Lakers into 22 turnovers and allowing only 10 Lakers assists. The Suns outscored the Lakers 19 to 6 in fastbreak points as well.
With an almost completely revamped roster from the last two seasons, the Suns will need to build continuity quickly in head coach Jordan Ott’s new system. If the Suns can summon the same energy and effort they played with against the Lakers, it will be a good sign that this team will play hard this season, no matter the situation, a welcome sight to Suns fans’ eyes.
No. 2 – Defending Brooklyn’s guards
Brooklyn drafted three guards in the first round, a point center in Danny Wolfe, and already has a proven scorer in Cam Thomas. Phoenix held Los Angeles’ guards Dalton Knecht, Bronny James, and Austin Reaves to 9-of-33 shooting from the field and harassed them up and down the floor. Will Dillon Brooks and Ryan Dunn be as effective defending Brooklyn’s litany of young guards the same way they kept Los Angeles’s guards quiet?
No. 3 – 3-point shooting
Against the Lakers, the Suns shot 13-of-41 from 3 and created open looks of dribble penetration and their relentless pace. Dillon Brooks, Grayson Allen, and Royce O’Neal combined for 9-of-16 from long range while the rest of the Suns shot 4-of-25. All three of the above-mentioned players last season shot above 39% from the 3-point line and were inside the top-50 last season in 3-point percentage. Is there anyone else on Phoenix’s roster who joins this group of elite shooters, and will that person begin to emerge on Friday? Ryan Dunn? Koby Brea? Nigel Hayes-Davis? Rasheer Fleming? The Suns’ 3-point shooting outside of Brooks, Allen, and O’Neal is a storyline I’m following this game, and for the rest of the season.
No. 4 – The Rookies
Khaman Maluach and Rasheer Fleming played one quarter against the Lakers, while Koby Brea got a DNP. Maluach had an alley-oop dunk, Fleming had a nice finish in the lane, but neither popped while watching. Will any of these three players pop in China and start to carve their way into the Suns’ opening day rotation?
Keys to a Suns Win
The number one key to victory for the Suns is to make it out of China injury-free. Regardless of the outcome on the scoreboard, especially since it is still the preseason. Whether the Suns win or lose, if every Suns player comes out and competes as ferociously as they did against the Lakers one week ago, it will be another positive step in the right direction.
For the Suns to achieve victory in this game, they will have to follow a similar blueprint they followed against the Lakers, where they targeted Bronny James and others over and over again to get easy baskets. Defensively, Phoenix has to pressure Brooklyn’s guards and force mistakes and turnovers.
Prediction
Honestly, who knows, but I will go with the team that has Dillon Brooks, an absolute psychopath of a competitor, to set the tone for the rest of the team early. The Nets’ bench will make a run late, but the Suns will win game one of two in China.
