As much as fans may not want to admit it, there’s some similarities between the respective offseasons of pacific rivals the Phoenix Suns and Los Angeles Lakers.
Phoenix have had their well publicised issues with ownership, along with relationship question marks between key personnel. Those same relationship questions are even more evident in Los Angeles, with the ongoing presence of Russell Westbrook proving an incredibly awkward situation.
Then you get to the on-court aspect; while they have genuine stars capable of being match-winners, there’s also concern on the bench depth of both teams. Neither were able to eliminate those worries in disappointing first outings in preseason.
The Phoenix Suns and Los Angeles Lakers will both be out to respond from disappointing first-up performances when they meet on Wednesday night.
The Suns will want to produce more defensive intensity than they showed on Sunday, with the Adelaide 36ers’ 24 three-pointers and 134 points lifting them to a shock upset win. The Lakers issues stemmed from the offensive end, their 40.8% shooting and 23.1% from three leading to just 75 total points in the 30-point loss to the Sacramento Kings.
For the purpose of this article, we’ll assume both teams manage their starters in similar fashion to their opening game. Here are three aspects to keep an eye on ahead of tonight’s clash in Las Vegas.
1. Suns guarding Anthony Davis
Mikal Bridges will get the job on LeBron James, but which Suns player will get the matchup on the Lakers second star? With Cameron Johnson entering the starting lineup, he and Davis are the direct matchup on paper.
In reality, that’s not be ideal from a Phoenix perspective. It may only be preseason, but it’ll be interesting to see what the Suns do given the reduce defensive capacity of Johnson compared to Jae Crowder.
Deandre Ayton is the other option, however the Suns may prefer to utilise him as a weak side help defender should Davis look to bully Johnson inside. Either way, keeping Davis out of the paint is the major emphasis. His jump shot has deteriorated in recent seasons, and although he made two of his four three-point attempts against the Kings, you’ll live with any perimeter shot he takes.
2. Forcing jumpshots
Los Angeles are a poor three-point shooting team, ranking 21st and 22nd in the last two seasons. While Phoenix will want to improve their perimeter defense from the Adelaide game, forcing the Lakers into jumpshots should prove the correct formula to success. The issues will lie if Davis can control the interior, and if James can get downhill with no secondary line of defense.
3. Bench output
This is clearly a fascinating aspect given the Suns bench was a -21 in plus-minus against the 36ers. Phoenix’s starters were +11 in their opening game, while Davis and James were both +2. It’s not necessarily the most important facet, but given the Lakers too have bench issues, there’s hope that the Suns second unit will respond.