Preview: Suns Face Clippers in Home Finale
The Phoenix Suns conclude their home slate against the Los Angeles Clippers.
The Phoenix Suns (46-32) are set to conclude the 41-game regular season home slate tonight against the streaking Los Angeles Clippers (50-28).
L.A. is coming off of three massive wins in a row, including a gutsy victory over the Denver Nuggets. The Suns fell to the New Orleans Pelicans in a tightly contested game on Sunday afternoon.
The Clippers are set to be without star F Kawhi Leonard, who has battled a knee injury recently, while the Suns have designated Jusuf Nurkic as questionable due to an ankle sprain.
A brief rundown on the Clippers' performance lately, a key matchup, and a game prediction will follow.
Clippers: Recent Success
The Clippers' season appeared to be going in a tailspin as recently as two weeks ago, but the squad has been able to navigate the turbulence - they have gone 6-1 over the last 7 games to reach 50 wins on the season.
The Clippers appear to be back on the right track once again in a season that has somewhat mirrored the Suns in terms of the up-and-down natures of both squads.
L.A. is set to finish the season with a double-header against Phoenix followed by games against the Utah Jazz and Houston Rockets.
The Clippers are looking to be in strong shape to have home-court advantage in the first round of the NBA playoffs.
Key Matchup: Devin Booker vs Paul George
This is the most apparent intriguing matchup of the night.
George-Booker has been a notable contentious matchup over the years - with Booker gaining the upper hand in most cases.
George is also arguably coming off of the best performance of his season, a game in which he dropped 39 points, grabbed 11 boards, and dished out 7 assists in a major comeback victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers.
George is playing the best basketball of his season over his last 10 games - and the Clippers will need every bit of his contributions in the absence of Leonard.
Prediction: Suns Win
The Suns bounce back from a disappointing loss with a quality victory tonight.
Booker and Kevin Durant will have stout performances in the process as well, and the Suns won't allow the Leonard absence to derail the will to win.
Phoenix would in turn move to 47-32 on the year and will have a quick turnaround as they will travel to Los Angeles for tomorrow night's game.
Suns-Clippers is set to tip shortly after 7 P.M. local time tonight.
