The Phoenix Suns and the Los Angeles Lakers square off in the quarterfinals portion of the inaugural NBA In-Season Tournament. Will the Suns finally defeat LA? Or, will the Lakers slap Phoenix with yet another loss?
Catch this game live on Wednesday, December 6, 2023 at 11 AM, Manila time
Away: Phoenix Suns (12-8/7-3 Away)
Projected Starting Five:
- Devin Booker
- Grayson Allen
- Josh Okogie
- Kevin Durant
- Jusuf Nurkic
The Suns are not just looking to advance to the semifinal round of the NBA In-Season Tournament when they face off against Los Angeles this Wednesday; they are also eyeing to finally beat the Purple & Gold. Phoenix is 0-2 straight up against the Lakers so far in the 2023-24 NBA season, beating LA on Oct. 27 on the road (100-95) and on Nov. 11 at home (122-119).
This time around, though, the Suns will have Devin Booker, who was absent in the previous two meetings with the Lakers. Booker, who is coming off a 34-point, 10-assist performance in Phoenix’s 116-109 home win over the Memphis Grizzlies last Sunday, is averaging 27.9 points, 8.4 assists, and 5.8 rebounds this season. With Booker healthy and ready to go, Kevin Durant doesn’t have to carry as much load as he did in the last two games versus the Lakers during which he put up averages of 38.5 points and 10.0 rebounds while shooting 49.1 FG%.
Home: Los Angeles Lakers (12-9/8-2 Home)
Projected Starting Five:
- D’Angelo Russell
- Cam Reddish
- Taurean Prince
- LeBron James (Questionable)
- Anthony Davis
It has been a bumpy ride for the Lakers over their last several games, oscillating between wins and losses for some time now. In their most recent outing, the Lakers defeated the Houston Rockets at home, 107-97, on Sunday to continue a win-loss trend. Los Angeles has gone 3-3 straight up in its last six games without winning or losing consecutively. Nevertheless, it’s worth noting that Los Angeles is undefeated in four NBA In-Season Tournament games, including two at home.
Even though they shot horribly from deep (30.4%) in the last two games against Phoenix, the Lakers still managed to come away with victories from those meetings. They are still a poor outside shooting team (33.7%), but the Lakers thrive a lot around the rim. They are third in the league with a 38.8% rate in shot distribution at the rim, which is a good sign against the Suns, who are just 20th overall with a defensive rim success rate of 64.0%. Phoenix is also only 23rd with 53.4 paint points allowed per contest.
PREDICTIONS:
Spread: The Suns (+1.5) cover the spread.
Over/Under: The total (227.5) hits the Over.
