National Basketball Association

Phoenix Suns v Brooklyn Nets 11/12 Preview

Published Jun. 30, 2017 6:28 p.m. ET

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Phoenix Suns (3-6) v Detroit Pistons (3-5)

Saturday 11/12/16 7:00pm

Talking Stick Resort

Fox Sports Arizona/Arizona Sports 98.7

Season Series 0-0

All-Time Series – Phoenix Suns lead 44-38 (The Nets have won two in a row against Phoenix)

Last matchup – February 25, 2016 – Nets defeat Suns 116-106

Suns’ last game – 107-100 victory over the Detroit Pistons

Nets’ last game – 119-96 loss to the New York Knicks

Suns’ Scoring Averages – 107.6 PTS/G – 113.0 OPP PTS/G

Nets’ Scoring Averages – PTS/G – 104.4 OPP PTS/G 108.0

Preview

Phoenix Suns

The Suns rebounded from two consecutive losses to defeat the Detroit Pistons, and for former Suns, 107-100, the second consecutive game without Tyson Chandler who’s Mother passed away last week. Tyson is still currently listed as Questionable in a return to the Suns lineup for tonight’s game…Devin Booker (21.5) continues to hold onto the Suns’ scoring high as T.J. Warren’s (20.2) hot scoring start has began to wane, generally in favor of Eric Bledsoe (19.3). The three still have the capability to average over 20 points per game each for the season, the first for a Suns team since Tom Chanbers, Eddie Johnson, and Kevin Johnson did it back in 1988-89…Brandon Knight, who Head Coach Earl Watson predicted would lead the Suns in scoring most nights coming off the bench, has not done so once this season. He is currently averaging a career low 11.8 points per game, although it is his first season in which he is not a starter…Eric Bledsoe is currently only averaging 4.9 assists per game, which would be the lowest as a Suns high since Joe Johnson led the Suns with 4.4 assists per game in 2003-04…T.J. Warren is currently leading the Suns in steals with 1.8 per game…With Tyson Chandlers 13.3 rebounds per game and Alex Len’s 7.8 per game coming off the bench, the Suns are currently second in the league in rebounds with 426, and 47.3 per game…At the moment the Suns are no longer first in the league in free throws made and attempted per game, as they have slipped to second in both categories. They still rank middle of the pack in free throw percentage at .765%… While the Suns are rebounding the ball with authority, they are not blocking many shots, as they record only 3.2 per game, which is second to last in the league…This isn’t a great bump up, however, the Suns are now 28th in the league in personal fouls per game at 26.8, although still far lower than would be preferential.

Brooklyn Nets

As the two teams raced to the finish line with the fewest wins possible, the Nets beat the Suns in both head-to-head matchups, although the Nets still finished two games worse than the Suns in the standings at the end of the season…The Nets will be without the services of Caris LeVert who is sidelined with foot surgery, Jeremy Lin who is recovering from a hamstring injury, and Isaiah Whitehead who is suffering from concussion-like symptoms, and will miss his second game in a row…The Nets have six players averaging 9.1 points per game or better led by Brook Lopez’ 20.6 per game. Sean Kilpatrick averages 15.4 points off the bench…Power Forward Trevor Booker is enjoying the best season of his career, his first in Brooklyn, and his first as a full-time starter, averaging 9.1 points and 9.0 rebounds per game and has recorded three double-doubles so far…The Nets love to shoot three’s as they have eight regular players that average over 1.0 made three per game, each of whom also average over 3.0 attempts as well. They rank 5th in the league in three point shots attempted, and 7th in the league in makes. Neither of these mean tat they will make an inordinate amount on the Suns, as they average .317% on the season, which places them at 24th overall…Like the Suns, they are not prone to block a lot of shots, averaging 3.9 per game which ranks then 28th in the league. However, they are less prone to fouling as they only average 20.4 per game which places them at a modest 10th in the NBA…

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