Phoenix Suns v Los Angeles Clippers 1/2 Game Preview

Phoenix Suns (10-24) v Los Angeles Clippers (22-14)

Monday 1/2/2017 8:30pm
Staples Center, Los Angeles, CA
Fox Sports Arizona/Arizona Sports 98.7FM

Season Series – Los Angeles leads 1-0
All-Time Series – Phoenix leads 130-79 (Clippers have won 16 of last 20)
Last Matchup – October 31, 2016, Los Angeles won 116-98
Suns’ Last Game – Loss to Utah Jazz 91-86
Clippers’ Last Game – Loss to Oklahoma City 114-88
Suns’ Scoring Averages – PTS/G: 106.2 (9th of 30) Opp PTS/G: 112.9 (29th of 30)
Clippers’ Scoring Averages – PTS/G: 108.0 (5th of 30) Opp PTS/G: 103.1 (10th of 30)

Preview

Phoenix Suns

After two consecutive games holding their opponents under 100 points, the Suns, who prior to the Toronto Raptors game, had a opponents scoring average of 114.6, are now up to 112.9, still 29th in the league, but 1.5 ahead of the Brooklyn Nets…Over their last three games the Suns have allowed only 100.3 per game…Phoenix still allows the most points for an opponent in the 4th quarter with 28.4…In a recurring theme all season, Phoenix is last in assists with 18.2 per game (the Suns have never been last in that statistic at the end of the season); and last in personal fouls per game with 25.3 (the Suns were worst in the league in personal fouls last season, the first time in franchise history – they are on pace to repeat)…The Suns are 28th in the league in turnovers, averaging 16.2 per game. Because of their low assists rate and high turnover rate, Phoenix is worst in the league in assist/turnover ratio, with 1.13 per game…Phoenix leads the league in and one frequency with 4.9% of all possessions ending in that play…With a 49.1% eFG%, the Suns are 27th overall. With a 52.5% opponent eFG%, the Suns are 26th overall…Phoenix opponents shoot 38.5% from three, second highest in the Association..As always, look for Phoenix to capitalize on their opponents turnovers, as they are 2nd overall in points off turnovers with 18.8…Following his return from a head injury, T.J. Warren scored only two points in his first two games back, though went four consecutive games in double figures, including 23 points against San Antonio. In his last two games however, he has scored only four points, including going scoreless against the Utah Jazz…After scoring in double figures in five consecutive games, Brandon Knight has only scored seven points against Toronto, and too went scoreless against Utah…Eric Bledsoe has scored in double digits in 21 consecutive games, and had a solid night of 19 points, 8 assists, and 8 rebounds against Utah, following up a 22 point and 10 assist game against Toronto…Devin Booker had his best shooting night against Utah in two weeks, shooting 9-19 for 47.4%. It was the 6th time this season that he has shot at least 47.4%…

Los Angeles Clippers

Phoenix is going to catch the injury-riddled Clippers at the exact right time as Blake Griffin is still out following arthroscopic knee surgery in mid-December, and now Chris Paul is expected to sit out with a hamstring injury…The Clippers shoot .1 fewer free throws per game than the Suns at 25.5 are 18th overall in FT% with 76.1%…Los Angeles is 4th overall in points per game with 110.9…The Clippers are 6th overall in 3PT% shooting 37.6%…Do not expect the Suns to have a lot of blocks tonight as the Clippers are the least blocked team in the league with only 3.4 per game…The Clippers and Suns are number 1 and 2 in the league in opponents fouls per game, .3 off of one another, with Los Angeles edging out the Suns 22.6 to 22.3 opponent fouls per game…LA is 7th in the league in eFG% with 52.6%…The Suns and Clippers are tied in opponents 2nd chance points with 12.4 per game…While the Suns are last in the league allowing 17.3 points by an opponent off fastbreaks, the Clippers are 5th worst with 14.4…Granted they are missing Griffin and Paul right now, the team has the 4th highest isolation frequency in the league with 10.5% of all possessions ending in an iso play…Maybe tonight’s 4th quarter will be high scoring as the Clippers allow 26.8 points in the 4th quarter, 5th worst in the league. Fascinatingly, the Clippers average scoring margin per quarter is +2.6 (4th overall), +2.3 (4th), +2.0 (4th), -1.8 (27th)…The Clippers are a below average fastbreak scoring team, scoring only 1.557 points per fastbreak, compared to Phoenix’s 2.087, which is 5th highest in the NBA…When healthy, the Clippers boast six players that average double-figure scoring…Six players also average over 35% from beyond the arc…DeAndre Jordan averages a 11.7 point 13.2 rebound double-double, and has 14 double-doubles on the season. He has had double figure rebound games in 17 of his last 19 games. Jordan’s 13.2 rebounds is 4th overall and his 67.1% FG% is 2nd best in the NBA…Chris Paul’s 2.2 steals per game is 2nd best in the league and his 9.5 assists is 4th best overall…Austin Rivers is having a heckofa year off the bench, averaging 10.0 points, and shooting 39.2% from three with a 51.0% eFG%…