A pair of Western Conference contenders and Pacific Division rivals will duke it out, with the Phoenix Suns (38-34, 37-34-1 ATS) in California's capital to face the Sacramento Kings (43-29, 40-31-1 ATS). This will be the fourth and final battle between the clubs, with Phoenix winning the first two and Sacramento taking the most recent game two weeks ago. Both squads would hold home-court advantage in their first-round playoff series if the season ended today, but could desperately use a win in this one for different reasons. At 10:00 p.m. EST in Golden 1 Center, we'll see which side wants it more.
Between January 19 and March 8, the Suns went 16-5 and never lost consecutive games. Since then, they've gone 1-5, beginning with a loss to the Kings on January 11. They currently occupy the fourth spot in the Western Conference standings but are only two games ahead of the seventh spot. Falling to seventh or lower would force them into the play-in tournament, along with eliminating their home-court advantage in the first round.
Their latest loss came against the Los Angeles Lakers, an 11-point defeat. On defense, Deandre Ayton's absence was very noticeable, as they allowed the Lakers to 55.7% and rack up 50 points in the paint. Phoenix also fouled the Lakers a ton, leading to 46 Los Angeles free-throw attempts. Devin Booker finished with 33 points, his eighth time hitting the 30-point threshold in March, but also had seven turnovers. Booker is averaging 34.0 points per game this month on 58.2% shooting. < /p>
Book. Bucket. And the foul. pic.twitter.com/xmBpFdEOQt
— Phoenix Suns (@Suns) March 23, 2023
Booker leads an offense that's 15th in offensive rating but had higher hopes when they acquired Kevin Durant at the trade deadline. Durant only played for the Suns three times before getting injured and isn't expected back until April. Phoenix's strength offensively is three-point efficiency, ranking fifth in the NBA at 37.7%.
Deandre Ayton's absence (he's questionable for this game) on the defensive end was touched on, but the Suns are stout on that end typically. They are ninth in defensive efficiency, led by holding foes to a 53.8% effective field goal percentage. Phoenix has the worst free throw rate on defense, putting opponents to the free throw line at a higher rate than every other team.
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