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On Friday night, the Phoenix Suns travel to Crypto.com Arena for a road game against the Los Angeles Lakers. After playing on Thursday night, these Suns will be on their second leg of back-to-backs after falling to LA Clippers Wednesday night. Look for the Suns to rest some of their starters.
Los Angeles holds a record of 41-39, having committed 18.1 fouls per game and shooting 77.5% from the free-throw line. Their assist rate stands at 25.2 times per game (15th in league), and they lose possession through turnovers 14.1 times per contest. So far this season, the Lakers have scored 9,359 points (117.0 per contest) while averaging 45.6 boards per contest. As an offensive unit, they are hitting on 48.2% from the floor, which ranks them 10th in the league for accuracy; unfortunately for them, it might not be quite so great without those statistics!
Los Angeles’ defense is giving up 34.6% on shots from beyond the perimeter (1,009 of 2,920), and opponents are making 77.2% of their free throw attempts. They allow 25.6 assists and 44.8 boards per game – ranking 15th and 25th in NBA respectively. On defense, the Lakers rank 21st with 116.7 PPG given up, forcing 12.7 turnovers per game, while allowing teams to shoot 46.9% from the floor (8th overall in league play).
Phoenix comes into this matchup with a win-loss record of 44-35 for the year, averaging 113.7 points per game (17th in basketball) on 46.8% shooting from the field. They shoot 37.5% on three-point attempts (961 of 2,565) and 79.3% from the free throw line as a unit; as such they rank 4th in passing offense with 2,157 dimes this year; unfortunately though they have committed 13.7 turnovers per contest and committed 21.4 personal fouls as well.
Defensively, the Suns are forcing 14.5 turnovers per game while drawing 20.0 fouls. They give up 35.6% on shots from distance and rank 5th in the league for PPG allowed (111.3). As a team, they surrender 46.4% field goal percentage (3,142 of 6,769) and 42.7 boards per contest as a basketball team; currently ranking 2nd in assists given away to opponents with 1,844 for this season.
The Suns have won two of the three matchups between these two teams this season.
Thursday night the Suns take on the Denver Nuggets for a back-to-back. Two nights prior, they easily defeated San Antonio Spurs 115-94 thanks to Chris Paul’s 22 points and Deandre Ayton’s 19 points plus 11 rebounds. Phoenix currently holds the fourth seed in the West and can secure that spot with a win over their next four games. Phoenix may opt to rest Kevin Durant, Chris Paul or Devin Booker for this contest because this is a back-to-back. What will Monty Williams think? With the playoffs starting next week and potential exits for both teams, there could be an opening for LeBron and his teammates to secure a significant victory to boost their postseason hopes. Look for Davis and LeBron to assert their dominance if the Suns choose not to rest their players – take Los Angeles!
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