Phoenix Suns: Three Keys to Victory vs Chicago Bulls
The Phoenix Suns are winners of their last four-of-six as they head into a Friday night matchup with the Chicago Bulls. With Kevin Durant now in the fold, the Suns look to orchestrate as much chemistry as possible between their lineups and rotations ahead of the postseason.
The Bulls - winners of their last three-of-four games - won't roll over to Phoenix's newly assembled lineup.
The Suns have won their last six matchups against Chicago, which includes an earlier meeting back on Nov. 30.
Here's what Phoenix needs to do in order to secure the season sweep over the Bulls:
Suns: Three Keys to Victory vs Bulls
Limit LaVine
Zach LaVine is Chicago's second-leading scorer behind DeMar DeRozan at 24.3 points per game and is scorching hot after a 41-point performance in a win over the Detroit Pistons on Wednesday.
He's also put up totals of 27 and 32 in two of the three games prior to Wednesday as well.
With Booker on the opposite side of LaVine, the two should get into a fairly entertaining swap of buckets tonight, though Booker will need to be on his toes defensively to force Chicago to go through the mid-range talents of DeMar DeRozan.
LaVine is hot - we'll see if Booker can cool him off.
Three's Company
The new "midrange mafia" nickname for the Suns is pretty sick, but the Suns would be wise to capitalize on Chicago's lack of ability to defend the three.
The Bulls' 12.9 three-pointers made by opponents per night is fifth-worst in the league. Though Phoenix's lineup isn't littered with deep assassins, the Suns shoot an efficient 37.7% from downtown.
Though the Suns' bread and butter relies on the inside, more of a focal point on deep shooting could pay big dividends on top of possibly opening up the paint a bit more. With Durant's presence now on the wing, spacing is optimal nearly the entire way.
Basketball is a simple game, and the Suns simply need to continue shooting at the current success rate they have been.
Allow Durant to Expand
Durant made his debut on Wednesday after nearly two months of absence thanks to a sprained MCL suffered back on Jan. 8.
You wouldn't have known if you watched him play in Phoenix's win over Charlotte.
Durant dropped 23 points, six rebounds, two assists and two blocks in limited action. Though head coach Monty Williams will have him on a minutes restriction once more, the Suns may be enticed to let Durant go a little more loose in their Friday night matchup.
As they should.
With only 19 games left until the playoffs are here, Durant will likely be at full capacity around the 10-15 game mark. The Suns won't gamble on their newly acquired talent to suffer another injury via being rushed back, and that's understandable.
Yet Durant has just a tad more knowledge of Phoenix's sets with a bit more chemistry on the floor with his guys.
That should allow Durant to be just that much more of himself, minutes restriction or not.
