Game Preview: Phoenix heads to Cleveland for a New Year’s Eve test

SB Nation

Who: Phoenix Suns (19-13) @ Cleveland Cavaliers (18-16)

When: 1:30pm Arizona Time

Where: Rocket Arena — Cleveland, Ohio

Watch: Arizona’s Family 3TV, Arizona’s Family Sports

Listen: KMVP 98.7

The Suns get their

first look at Cleveland on New Year’s Eve, which feels fitting somehow. Last January, the Cavaliers handled Phoenix without much resistance. The Suns returned the favor in March. None of that really matters now because both teams are living in different skins.

A year ago, Cleveland was the class of the East, 64 wins, first seed, a machine built on cohesion and edge. Phoenix missed the playoffs entirely. Fast forward a season and the roles feel scrambled. The Suns look connected, purposeful, sure of themselves. Cleveland looks uneven, searching, trying to rediscover a rhythm it once owned.

The roster barely changed. Ty Jerome is gone. Lonzo Ball arrived via Chicago. That is not enough to explain the shift in Cleveland. The bigger absence is on the bench. Jordan Ott, along with DeMarre Carroll, is in Phoenix now, and his fingerprints are all over what the Suns have become. What Cleveland seems to be missing is an identity. Last season they thrived on pressure, physicality, and a collective bite. That edge has dulled.

None of this means Cleveland is harmless.

Donovan Mitchell can still light the place on fire. Evan Mobley still controls space and glass. Injuries have played a role, with Max Strus missing time as a floor spacer. The record says average. The talent says otherwise. This is still a top-tier team that can punish you if you get careless, especially on a weird afternoon tip to close the year.

Probable Starters

Injury Report

Suns

Ryan Dunn — QUESTIONABLE (Right Knee)
Grayson Allen — DOUBTFUL (Right Knee)
Jordan Goodwin — AVAILABLE (Jaw Sprain)
Jalen Green — OUT (Right Hamstring Strain)

Cavaliers

Larry Nance, Jr — OUT (Right Calf Strain)
Sam Merrill — PROBABLE (Left Hip Soreness)
Max Strus — OUT (Left Foot)

What to Watch For

The Suns have been impressive on the glass, which still feels strange when you remember Royce O’Neale is opening games at power forward. They give up size, no question. What they bring instead is tenacity, urgency, and a collective obsession with tracking the ball. That effort has carried them in the last few games. Shots have not always fallen, but when you pull down more than 20 offensive rebounds, you keep the game alive. Second-chance points become the lifeline.

At some point, though, that approach runs into resistance. Cleveland can provide it. The Cavaliers launch the second-most threes in the league, even though they sit 22nd in three-point percentage. They will keep firing, and that means the Suns have to stay alert. A team that shoots that much can flip a game in a hurry if the rhythm clicks.

It also means rebounding discipline matters even more. Misses turn into battles. Jarrett Allen and Evan Mobley are not easy bodies to deal with. They carve out space, they move you, they punish lapses. Phoenix has to meet that force with effort, or the margins disappear fast.

Key to a Suns Win

This is going to be a real test for Phoenix, and I am genuinely looking forward to it. Jordan Ott walks back into a building where he experienced plenty of success, and you know he is going to have his team ready. Not that it takes much. This group locks in quickly. Still, there is an edge to this one that feels personal in the best way.

It all comes down to defensive rebounding. Cleveland is going to fire away. They always do. That means long shots and long rebounds, which turn possessions into street fights. The defensive glass is where this game will live or die.

If the Suns want to walk into Dan Gilbert’s Rocket Arena and come out with a win, they have to be sharp. Smart with the ball. Committed on the boards. And willing to knock down open threes when they show up. That is the formula. Anything less, and this one gets uncomfortable fast.