Suns' Three Keys to Victory vs Lakers
Who: Phoenix Suns (1-0) at Los Angeles Lakers (0-1)
When: Thursday, Oct. 26 at 7:00 PM Arizona Time
Where: Crypto.com Arena, Los Angeles, CA
The Phoenix Suns finish a two-game road stint with a divisional matchup against the Los Angeles Lakers.
Our three keys to the game:
Must Win Non-LeBron Minutes
LeBron James was on a minutes restriction
The Lakers' depth will be tested mightily this year, especially after reports that the team plans to have a general minutes restriction for star LeBron James this season. LeBron is set to play 28-30 minutes a night.
That leaves up to 20 minutes a game to make up for whatever advantages are created when the GOAT is on the court. The depth the team accumulated/kept this offseason didn't hold their end of the bargain.
While James was a +7 in his time on the court, the bench was a putrid -23 between five players that played meaningful minutes. The Lakers' supposed third star Austin Reaves also had a terrible -14 plus-minus in 31 minutes of action.
The Suns need to attack non-LeBron minutes, going after perceived weak links on the team such as Cam Reddish and Gabe Vincent.
Role Players Need to Hit Shots
Josh Okogie will need to continue to prove his shooting capabilities tonight in LA.
The expected absences of Devin Booker and Brad Beal tie directly into higher expectations for Suns' role players such as Yuta Watanabe and Josh Okogie, but Grayson Allen/Eric Gordon are the players who truly need to go the extra mile tonight.
Watanabe and Okogie both deserve to continue being lauded for their efforts on Tuesday night, with both being very disruptive defensively and playing a team-driven brand of ball offensively- being effective connectors on that end in their own way.
Allen and Gordon struggled mightily on offense. Gordon is known to be streaky at times, and that was the case Tuesday, but it can't be ignored that the sniper hit some huge shots to shift the tide in the Suns' favor.
Both players are expected to draw starts tonight, and Gordon especially is likely to be called upon to be a secondary scorer and playmaker behind Durant. The Suns depth will be tested tonight, it's up to them to be ready to answer the call.
Stay Out of Foul Trouble
The Lakers are frequently among the most generously-reffed teams in the NBA on a year-to-year basis. Davis and James have been among the league leaders in free throws attempted per game for some time, while Austin Reaves is quickly becoming a player that gets a star whistle.
The free throw volume wasn't on display for three of four quarters for Los Angeles, only attempting 12 in the first three frames. The team attempted eight in the fourth quarter alone, however, and Reaves lead the team with seven attempts at the stripe.
Phoenix must tread carefully this game, as one of the biggest concerns with Nurkic is his penchant for fouling instead of going straight up on defense. Eubanks is more athletic and malleable at the rim, but isn't nearly as strong as Nurkic is.
It will be interesting to see how the Suns choose to attack Los Angeles, particularly in the paint. If this game becomes a free throw contest, it will be extremely difficult for Phoenix to pull out a win.
