The Phoenix Suns travel to San Antonio in the second of a back to back for them as they take on a well-rested Spurs team on Tuesday 12/11/18.
The Suns entered Monday’s game against the Clippers as losers of eight straight games. On the other hand, the Spurs are winners of two straight games and will be looking for another win at home where they are 9-4 this season.
Prior to their Monday game against the Clippers, the Phoenix Suns had lost 11 out of their last 12 games including their last 8 to fall to 4-22 on the season and claim the league’s worst record. The Suns will try to end the spell but will be hard pressed to do so on the road, on the second of back to back games and against a well-rested Spurs team.
Devin Booker leads the Suns with 23.5 points and 6.7 assists per game but he is sidelined with a hamstring injury. T.J. Warren is the team’s second leading scorer at 17.7 points per game but he too, has missed the Suns’ last five games (heading to Monday) with an ankle injury. That leaves rookie DeAndre Ayton as the best scorer at 15.5 points. Ayton also leads the team with 10.1 rebounds per game.
Phoenix is the lowest scoring team in the league at 102.2 points per game. The Suns also rank just 18th in assists at 23.54 dimes per contest. Defensively, they give up 113.8 points per game which is 25th in the entire league. The Suns are second to the last in rebounding, grabbing only a total of 40.0 rebounds per game.
The San Antonio Spurs were glad to go home after a dry spell which saw them lose four out of five games including three losses of at least 30 points. The Silver and Black have won back to back home games over the Lakers and the Jazz to get back on track. With two days rest, they look to add a third one against the struggling Suns.
DeMar DeRozan is having an excellent first season in San Antonio. DeRozan is averaging 24.8 points, 6.1 assists and 1.0 steals per game to pace the Spurs in those statistical categories. LaMarcus Aldridge is San Antonio’s top rebounder at 9.9 rebounds per game while also scoring 18.2 points per contest. Rudy Gay is the third man on offense with 13.9 points per game along with 5.7 boards per night.
San Antonio ranks 14th in team scoring at 110.3 points per game.The Spurs are 16th in the league in assists at 23.8 assists per game. On the other end of the court, San Antonio is allowing 113.3 points per game, ranked 24th overall in the NBA. The Spurs are also the 18th best rebounding team in the league at 44.3 boards per contest.
The Suns and Spurs have played a total of 171 times during the NBA regular season and the Spurs lead the all-time series 94-77. The Spurs have won 13 out of their last 15 meetings but the Suns won the last one, 116-96 last November 14th in Phoenix.
Phoenix is 0-5 SU in their last five games and are a woeful 1-12 SU in 13 road games played this season. San Antonio is 3-2 SU in their last five games played and the Spurs are 9-4 SU in 13 home games played this season. Head to head, the Spurs are 8-2 SU in their last 10 meetings and are 9-1 SU in their last 10 games played in San Antonio.
The Spurs are well rested in this one with their last game on November 9 which was also at their home floor. On the other hand, the Suns hosted the Clippers on Monday and then had to immediately fly out to San Antonio to face the Spurs. Back to back games are tough by itself but playing a well-rested team on the second of a back to back is tougher.
Aside from that, the Suns are dealing with several injuries, most notably to its top two scorers of the season in Devin Booker and T.J. Warren who were both listed as out of their Monday game against the Clippers. That said, I don’t think the Suns have enough talent to beat the Spurs, even on a complete lineup. What more for a team that is going to miss around 41.2 points per game.
Look for the Spurs to take care of their business here as they deal with a team that’s both undermanned and playing on back to back nights. I don’t think the Suns have enough offense to keep up with the home team here. We’re picking the San Antonio Spurs to beat the Phoenix Suns on 12/11/18.
Phoenix is 8-18 ATS in 26 games played this season. The Suns are also just 3-10 ATS in 13 road games played this season. San Antonio is 13-14 ATS in 27 games played this season and are 8-5 ATS in 13 home games played so far. Head to head, the Spurs are 8-2 SU in their last 10 games played against the Suns. San Antonio is also 3-1-1 ATS in their last five games played overall. The Spurs are also 6-3-1 ATS in their last 10 games against the Suns in San Antonio.
San Antonio is 3-0-1 ATS in their last four games against Pacific Division teams. Phoenix is 0-5 ATS in their last five games against their Western Conference rivals and they are also 0-4 ATS in their last five road games versus teams with a winning home record. Overall, Phoenix is 0-8 ATS in their last 8 games played and have lost by at least 14 points in their last five games played. Prediction: Spurs -12.5
The under is 15-11 in 26 games played by the Suns this season. The total has gone under in 7 out of 13 games played by Phoenix this campaign. On the other hand, the over is 17-9-1 in 27 games played by the San Antonio Spurs this season. The total has gone over in 8 out of the 13 home games of the Spurs this year. Head to head, the under is 6-4 in the last 10 games played between the Suns and Spurs. The under is also 3-7 in their last 10 games played in San Antonio.
The Suns have averaged just 94.83 points in their last six games played and have failed to score at least 100 points in five out of those six games. It’s hard to score without your top scorer. It’s even harder without your top two scoring options. 218 is too much points to score when you’re playing against a team that’s struggling to put points on the scoreboard like the Suns are. Prediction: Under 218.5
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