Tank Battle: Not Just a 90s Video Game Anymore

Phoenix Suns (22-46) v Orlando Magic (24-45)

Wednesday 3/15/2017 7:00pm
Talking Stick Resort Arena, Phoenix, AZ
Fox Sports Arizona/Arizona Sports 98.7FM

Season Series – Series tied 1-1
All-Time Series – Phoenix leads 34-20
Last Matchup – November 23, 2016 Phoenix Won 92-87
Suns’ Last Game – Loss to the Sacramento Kings 107-101
Magic’s Last Game – Loss to the Golden State Warriors 122-92
Suns’ Scoring Averages – PTS/G: 107.5 (9th of 30) Opp PTS/G: 112.5 (29th of 30)
Magic’s Scoring Averages – PTS/G: 99.8 (29th of 30) Opp PTS/G: 106.5 (21st of 30)

Preview

For nearly a full season (or two) Suns fans have wanted what the franchise is finally doing in earnest: tanking hard. Since the All-Star break not only has P.J. Tucker been traded, but Tyson Chandler and Brandon Knight have been benched (not that Knight was helping a whole lot) and as of two days ago, so has Eric Bledsoe. Under the generally auspicious guise of figuring out what the team has in their young players, the trading and benching of three of their top players all but guarantees a higher number in the loss column, and a greater chance at securing a top-3 spot in this summer’s NBA Draft.

The Orlando Magic too are fighting their way to the bottom with the same hope of landing a top spot in the draft (they last won the lottery in 2004 selecting Dwight Howard number one overall). After trading Serge Ibaka to the Toronto Raptors, the Magic tout only one player who averages at least 15 points, Evan Fournier who pours in a team-high 16.8. The Magic are the league’s second worst scoring offense averaging a paltry 99.8 points per game and outside of Nikola Vucevic, have no star talent to speak of.

The Suns played their first game without Eric Bledsoe Wednesday night against the Sacramento Kings starting rookie Tyler Ulis at point guard for the first time in his career. Ulis finished with a 13 point and 13 assist double-double, becoming the first player since Steve Nash in 1996 to record at least 12 points and 12 assists in a game. Alan Williams too recorded a double-double, his eighth in his last ten games, with 14 points, 11 rebounds throwing in 2 blocks for good measure. Marquese Chriss tied his career-high with 5 blocks. The Suns found themselves in position to defeat the Kings late tying the game with 3:33 remaining, however they were unable to take control as Sacramento rallied to outscore the Suns 14-8 over the final stretch and hand Phoenix their fourth loss in five games. For a complete recap and interesting stats, read here.

Three Interesting Stats

Phoenix Suns

1. This game is the last matchup of the year that the Suns will face off against an Eastern Conference opponent at home. They are 8-5 in such games thus far.

2. With the vast majority of NBA games now played on one days rest, the Suns are 16-28 in those matchups (36.4%), a decent winning percentage, though over games that are played on zero days rest they are (41.7%), two days (11.1%), and three plus days off, believe it or not, (0.0%).

3. Devin Booker’s 6-26 (23.1%) from the field against Sacramento was his worst single game shooting percentage since 2-13 (15.4%) against the Spurs on 12/28. It was by volume his worst shooting night of his career as it was his worst shooting percentage in any game that he has attempted at least 20 shots. In fact, in the three games prior he took 21, 20, and 26 attempts, draining 52.2% of those attempts.

Orlando Magic

More from Valley of the Suns

1. The Magic are coming off of a loss to the Golden State Warriors last night, and thus will be playing their 14th game of the season on the back end of a back-to-back. They a 3-10 so far, although they have yet to face a team as deep into tank mode as the Suns are at this moment.

2. The Phoenix Suns are one of three teams that the Magic average only 87.0 points per game against, their lowest versus any individual team in the league, the Indiana Pacers and San Antonio Spurs being the other two.

3. Prior to the trade of Serge Ibaka, Nikola Vucevic had only averaged 13.9 points, far below his recent scoring averages which had reached over 19 points only two years ago. Since Serge’s trade, Vucevic has been counted in on far more on offense and now averaging 18.6 points over that period of time.