Who: Phoenix Suns (42-33) @ Orlando Magic (39-35)
When: 4:00pm Arizona Time
Where: Kia Center — Orlando, Florida
Watch: Arizona’s Family 3TV, Arizona’s Family Sports
Listen: KMVP 98.7
After losing six of seven, the Phoenix Suns have a win streak. Winners of their last two, Phoenix took advantage of two of their easiest opponents left on their schedule, beating both the Utah Jazz and the Memphis Grizzlies by 20+. Tonight, they’ll face a tougher challenge, on a back-to-back against the Orlando Magic.
Orlando
started hot coming out of the All-Star break, but have cooled down tremendously of late. The team is 3-7 in their last 10 games and on Sunday allowed the longest scoring run in NBA history, letting the Raptors put together a 31-0 run, when they lost by 52. They currently sit in 8th in the East.
The biggest news of the game for the Suns? After missing 18 games with a fractured left hand, Dillon Brooks is returning, and coincidentally, it is against the team that he suffered the injury against. Acquired last offseason when the Suns traded Kevin Durant to the Houston Rockets, Brooks is one of the main reasons the Suns have had such a surprising season. In 50 games this year, Brooks has been the Suns’ second-best player this season, anchoring the team’s perimeter defense, and is the team’s second leading scorer, averaging 21 points a game.
Phoenix is 12-13 when Brooks doesn’t play this year, and 9-9 since he got hurt. The Suns have endured a litany of injuries since the forward went out, but his absence is the most prevalent and longest. It’s not a lower-body injury, so expect Brooks not to miss a beat from a minutes perspective, but we shall see how Jordan Ott and the coaching staff handle his minutes.
Tonight is the first time the two teams have faced off since Jalen Green hit a surreal, fading buzzer-beating three in a double overtime thriller.
Probable Starters
Injury Report
Suns
- Amir Coffey – OUT (Left Ankle Sprain)
- Haywood Highsmith – OUT (Right Knee Injury Management)
- Mark Williams – OUT (Left Foot Third Metatarsal Stress Reaction)
Magic
- Anthony Black — OUT (Abdominal Strain)
- Colin Castleton — OUT (G-League)
- Jonathan Isaac — OUT (Left Knee Sprain)
- Alex Morales — OUT (G-League)
- Franz Wagner — OUT (Left Ankle Sprain)
What to Watch For
How does Dillon Brooks look?
While conditioning may be a problem for him, a wrist injury to his non-shooting hand shouldn’t limit his performance too much. Since Brooks went out, both Jalen Green and Devin Booker have become the team’s offensive engines, leading most of the scoring with Collin Gillespie taking a backseat role.
Brooks, Booker, and Green haven’t shared the floor much this season, and when they have, Green was early in his recovery from his hamstring injury.
Phoenix is still without one of its top leading scorers in Mark Williams, so Brooks still has an opportunity to fill an offensive void the team is dealing with, but the center is expected to return to the court soon as well.
Key to a Suns Win
Fortunately for the Suns, three of five starters yesterday played under 26 minutes, including Booker and Green, so for a back-to-back, the team may have some extra juice, along with potentially having Grayson Allen and Brooks in the lineup too.
That being said, Phoenix needs to get ahead early to avoid tired legs late in the game, and try to take any confidence or motivation a hungry Orlando team may have after suffering one of the most embarrassing losses in NBA history.
Prediction
Orlando has been struggling. While they do have the rest and travel advantage, the Suns took care of them without Booker last time, and Brooks missing most of the game. I like the Suns in a moderately close one.
Suns 123, Magic 112
