Phoenix Suns (6-14) v Utah Jazz (13-9)
Tuesday 12/6/2016 7:00pm
Viking Smart Home Arena, Salt Lake City
Fox Sports Arizona/Arizona Sports 98.7FM
Season Series – 0-0
All-Time Series – Phoenix leads 91-82
Last Matchup April 3, 2016 Utah won 101-86
Suns’ Last Game – Loss to Golden State 138-109
Jazz’ Last Game – Win over Los Angeles Lakers 107-101
Suns’ Scoring Averages – PTS/G: and 106.3 (8th of 30) Opp PTS/G: 113.2 (29th of 30)
Jazz’ Scoring Averages – PTS/G: 99.9 (25th of 30) Opp PTS/G: 95.1 (1st of 30)
Preview
Phoenix Suns
The Suns loss to the Golden State Warriors was their tenth in a row to the two-time defending Western Conference Champions. Down only nine at half, the Warriors put the pedal to the metal in the third quarter and their 40 points outburst following halftime put the game out of reach…Phoenix’s 89.0 field goal attempts per game places them second in the NBA, although their 44.2% field goal percentage places them 21st in the league, 3% above the league-worst Dallas Mavericks…The Suns’ 23.1 three-point attempts ranks them 25th in the league, while their 33.1% from beyond the arc is 24th overall…Phoenix is still dead-last in assists per game with 18.6; own shot attempts blocked at 6.1; and personal fouls, with 25.3…Even with Booker scoring 21 against Golden State, Eric Bledsoe’s 27 boosted him to the top of the Suns’ individual leader in scoring and now averages 19.3 points per game to Booker’s 19.2…Booker has made a three-pointer in six consecutive games…Tyson Chandler is down to averaging 11.5 rebounds per game in 26.4 minutes per outing, although he still averages 15.7 rebounds per 36 minutes…Chandler is the only starter to average over 50% eFG% at 72.9%. Bledsoe holds the second highest average of all starters at 48.8%…After finishing third in the preseason in rookie scoring, Marquese Chriss’ 6.3 points per game is 11th among all rookies. His 2.9 rebounds is tied for 9th, and his 42.9% is 6th…Dragan Bender’s 37% from three is 10th aiming rookies…
Utah Jazz
After taking a 15 point lead into the fourth quarter last night, the Los Angeles Lakers battled back keeping the game competitive, though Utah pulled out a 107-101 victory on the road. The Jazz had six players scoring in double-figures, and Rudy Gobert collected a season-high tying 17 rebounds. He has reached double figures in rebounding in twelve of his last fourteen games…Utah has held the Suns to below 90 points in each of the last five games, dating from April 4, 2015, the Suns have scored, 87, 89, 89, 69, and 86…Even with Gobert’s rebounding prowess, the Jazz in the NBA in rebounding at 42.4 per game, 3.2 behind fifth overall Phoenix…The Jazz are just barely better at collecting assists than the Suns, currently sitting 29th in the NBA and .3 above Phoenix with 18.9 per game…Utah takes care of the ball on offense, and is 4th overall with 12.3 turnovers per game…They do not steal the ball much, however, and are last in the league with 6.2 per game…The Jazz’ season high in points given up is from opening night at 113. On Nov. 25, they held the Atlanta Hawks to a season-low 68, holding the Hawks to a combined 25 points in the middle quarters…The Jazz have five players averaging in double figures, although Derrick Favors has been sidelined with a bone contusion since Nov. 17…As mentioned, the Jazz do not rack up many assists, and George Hill leads the team with 4.2, the lowest average for a team leader in the category in the NBA…Former Suns guard Joe Johnson is averaging 8.8 points, 3.4 rebounds, and 2.1 assists in 24.2 minutes per game, mainly all off the bench…Former swingman Boris Diaw is averaging 4.1 points, 2.3 rebounds, and 1.8 assists in 20.4 minutes, generally as a starter…
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