Phoenix Suns (2-3) v Brooklyn Nets (3-4)
Monday 10/3/2017 4:30
Barclays Center, Brooklyn, NY
Arizona Sports 98.7FM/Fox Sports Arizona Plus
2017-18 – Series tied 0-0
All-Time Series – Suns lead 44-40
Last Matchup – Nets won 126-98
Suns’ Last Game – Loss to the Portland Trail Blazers 114-107
Nets’ Last Game – Loss to the Denver Nuggets 124-111
2017-18 Suns’ Scoring Averages – PTS/G: 102.5 (21st of 30) Opp PTS/G: 117.2 (29th of 30)
2017-18 Nets’ Scoring Averages – PTS/G: 114.7 (3rd of 30) Opp PTS/G: 118.3 (30th of 30)
Preview
Well, Jay Triano will not finish the season 79-0. While through two games he was trending in that direction, and there was some hope that the Suns could get a revenge victory against the Blazers – a feeling that was still plausible in the final few moments of the game – the young Suns couldn’t put the shots in the basket necessary to pull out the road win as they lost 114-107 in Portland.
Down two with 46.0 seconds remaining, Marquese Chriss missed a jumper from just within the 3-point arc that would have tied the game at 108. The shot went for naught and Portland capitalized quickly stretching their lead to two possessions and eventually through free throws, to the final seven points that would be their victory gap.
In a highly competitive and back-and-forth game, the Suns never led in the second half, although Portland never built a lead greater than eight points.
This could be taken as a victory of sorts in the way they lost, certainly when taking what happened on opening night into consideration.
Devin Booker finished with a game and season high 34 points on an efficient 11-19 from the field. Book also nailed four 3’s and sank 8-9 from the line. Each of those numbers either tied or set season-high’s.
Moving to the Halloween matchup against Brooklyn, on paper the Suns and Nets look like they might score a ton of points in a trackmeet of comfortable league basement dwellers.
Statistically the Suns and Nets own the two worst opponents points averages in the league through this point in the season, although that stat is a little misleading.
Phoenix’s opponents average is inflated by the team’s first three games under Earl Watson. While under Watson the team allowed 128.6 points per game, in three games now Jay Triano at the helm, Phoenix is only allowing 105.6. Granted, 88 points allowed to Utah, the league’s 2nd worst scoring team, has helped that stat remain delightfully low, especially when given that they allowed 114 and 115 in the other two games. However even if they currently averaged 114.5 points per game, it is still a 14 point difference from their start – which is Huge.
The Nets, on the other hand, have been equally inconsistent on defense, though all under the same head coach, Kenny Atkinson. Brooklyn allowed 140 points on opening night to the Indiana Pacers and have allowed 121+ on three other occasions. On the same token though, they have held their opponent to under 110 points three times (something Phoenix has only done once), and are a respectable 2-1 in those three games.
This matchup against the Brooklyn Nets is only Phoenix’s third road game of the season thus far, and the first trip to the east coast. They have otherwise remained in the Pacific Time Zone for their first six games of the regular season, and five preseason outings.
Interesting Stats
Phoenix Suns
1. After scoring 34 points against Portland, Devin Booker is averaging 20.5 points per game, the first time he has averaged over 20 points a game this season. Last season’s 22.1 was his career high. If Booker scores 32 points against Brooklyn, he will average 22.2.
2. In their first three games under Watson, the Suns averaged a meager 15.3 assists per game, last in the league at the time. In three games under Triano, Phoenix is averaging 19.7 per game, which would place them 26th in the league. Their combined 17.5 is still last overall.
3. Although they had their quick outburst of fantastic shooting under Triano against Sacramento where they drained 54.5% of their shots for the field, in their next two games they average only 43.2%, although still a leap above the 39.6% they averaged under Watson.
Next: Phoenix Suns versus the Atlantic Division
Brooklyn Nets
1. Brooklyn is fifth in the league in three pointers made per game, averaging 11.9. Phoenix is 25th overall with 8.7.
2. Led by Trevor Booker’s 3.4 (all off the bench, mind you), the Brooklyn Nets average 12.0 offensive rebounds per game, good for fifth best.
3. Brooklyn averages 114.7 points per game so far this season, the third most in the NBA behind only Golden State and Orlando. While that is admittedly a wildly small sample size, Brooklyn also averaged 105.8 points per game last season, so a tick up from there isn’t out of the realm of possibility. However, last year – Kenny Atkinson’s first as head coach – was the first time the franchise had averaged over100 points per game since1993-94, an incredible stretch of 22 years. The franchise has averaged over 110 points per game once in the NBA, equaling 110.0 back in 1983-84.