Gameday: Can Suns Stop Scorching-Hot Donovan Mitchell?
Who: Phoenix Suns at Cleveland Cavaliers
When: Wednesday, Jan. 4 at 5:00 p.m. Arizona time
Where: Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse, Cleveland, OH
Spread: Cavaliers -5.5
The Phoenix Suns enter the sixth and final game of their current road trip, and what a doozy Monty Williams and co. have in store for them.
The Cleveland Cavaliers are hot off a 145-134 overtime win on Monday where Donovan Mitchell scored 71 points, setting the highest point total scored by any player prior to Kobe Bryant's 81 point outing in 2006.
Cleveland swept the Chicago Bulls in their two-game series, which stopped a prior three-game losing skid.
Defensively, the Cavaliers are one of the best in the league. Their 106.9 points allowed per night tops the NBA and their +5.2 point differential is tied with the Boston Celtics for No. 1 in the league as well.
The 24-14 Cavaliers are just two games back from the top spot in the East, while the Suns continue their own struggles in the West.
Phoenix has now lost their last six-of-seven and have dropped down to the No. 8 seed in the West, although they're just four games back. The Suns have reached over 110 points just once in their last seven games.
Phoenix is still trying to navigate temporary life without Devin Booker, who is set to be reevaluated for a groin injury a few weeks down the road.
When it comes to assessing the problem of what the Suns can do to overcome their struggles, not even players have a solidified idea.
“I don’t even know, man,” Deandre Ayton said following Monday's loss to the New York Knicks.
“I don’t even know what’s going on. For me, I could tell you this – I’m not used to the no fight in us. I’m used to us being down a hundred, and we still are going to pull out and win the game, or we still have that mentality like we’re about to win this game. Right now, we don’t have that, so that’s the only thing that’s going on throughout these games and why we’re losing.”
We'll see if the Suns can capture any momentum before returning home for a nationally televised meeting with the Miami Heat on Friday.
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