Time: 7 p.m. MST
TV: FSA
The Phoenix Suns started off the season with a 119-99 victory over the Los Angeles Lakers on Wednesday night. The guards were dominant as expected and the bigs looked competent. Marcus Morris surprisingly held his own against future Hall of Famer Kobe Bryant.
Friday, the Suns look to continue their success against the defending NBA champion San Antonio Spurs. To say it’s a step up in competition from the lottery-bound Lakers is an understatement and forward Anthony Tolliver knows it.
“We know that they move the ball very well,” Tolliver said. “We know that they play really well together, play defense and really square the ball. For a defender, we try to focus on what they do best and try to take that away from them.”
At their cores, these two teams are incredibly similar. Both finished last season among the top-8 in the league in points per 100 possessions and excelled at scoring in the paint and the three-point line. Both teams also defended those areas on the opposite ends of the court fairly well. The Spurs finishing 13 spots ahead of the Suns in points allowed in the paint, while the Suns were better at limiting three point shooters, finishing second in the league in terms of opponents percentage.
“They are kind of a pillar of the NBA,” Tolliver said. “They have been winning for a long time and winning championships. I think all the organizations in the NBA look up to them as somewhere you want to get to and that’s where we want to be. We definitely look up to the way they do things and hopefully we can mimic that.”
Phoenix is perhaps the only team in the NBA that can compete with San Antonio in terms of pure depth. Isaiah Thomas spent Wednesday night doing whatever he wanted against the Lakers bench finishing with 23 points on a sizzling 9-for-11 shooting. Marcus Morris who likely won’t start upon P.J. Tucker’s return from a three game suspension finished with 21 points, while going 5-for-9 from behind the arc.
San Antonio has an equally strong bench with Manu Ginobilii and Boris Diaw. While the loss of Patty Mills shortens the guard rotation, Cory Joseph should provide significantly more resistance to Thomas than anything the Lakers had to offer.
Both teams are incredibly well run and think in a lot of the same ways. The Spurs have more frontline talent and a core that’s been together for over a decade, something the Suns hope to achieve. Here are the keys to the Suns overcoming those advantages and getting the win tonight.
Kawhi Leonard returns from injury
At 23 years old, he is the third youngest Finals MVP in league history and will make his season debut tonight after missing the Spurs season opening win with an eye infection. After struggling through the first two games of the NBA Finals, Leonard was dominant by averaging 23.7 points and 9.3 rebounds while shooting an absurd 68.6 percent from the field. He also played LeBron James to a near draw over those games. Without Tucker or T.J. Warren, there’s not really a logical defender to throw at Leonard other than Marcus Morris.
From a size perspective this matchup makes a little bit more sense for Morris, but Leonard’s much quicker than Kobe at this point and a better three-point shooter. Morris will have to do his best to contest perimeter shots while not giving up a step on Leonard’s rim runs.
“If you let him get to his right, he’s going to go in and power you in,” Suns coach Jeff Hornacek said on Leonard’s offensive ability. “He’s a great player.”
On the other end of the court, Morris won’t get the same air space he did against the Lakers. The Suns best chance at getting him looks is to rely on penetration from their guards to draw Leonard over or give Marcus some chances to attack him in the post. If Marcus can hold his own on both ends of the floor it’ll go a long way to giving the Suns a shot in this game.
The more-real three-point threat
If the Spurs missed a three-pointer in the NBA Finals, it got lost in the veritable air raid they dropped on the Heat. One of the best passing teams in league history it’s essential to limit penetration if you want any hope of stopping them from the perimeter. When Tony Parker or Ginobili gets into the lane help comes and even the slightest step off a Spurs shooter is a death sentence and often results in something like this. The Suns need to stay disciplined and not over help.
Jeff Hornacek acknowledged the challenges of dealing with the Spurs passing.
“You can’t wait for a pass to react,” he said. “If you wait it’s too late. You have to anticipate, you have to be on the move, you have to be light on your feet and kind of think a play or two ahead because that’s what they’re doing.”
The backcourt showdown
The Spurs have one of the better backcourts in the league, and with both Parker and Ginobili dropping over 20 in the Spurs’ first game, they’re still going strong. That being said, the Suns may just have the advantage. Eric Bledsoe’s athleticism is the stuff of Ginobili’s nightmares and if he’s in attack mode, he might force the Argentine guard off the court. This is one spot the Suns have to have the upper hand.
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Zoran Dragic is going to be active for tonight’s game and Tyler Ennis won’t be. With the Spurs being far and away the most internationally styled team in the NBA, it’s not a bad place for Zoran to potentially make his NBA debut.