Suns vs Raptors: 5 Big Questions Ahead of Sunday

The Phoenix Suns are on a five-game losing streak with the Toronto Raptors coming to town, and with Jordan Ott's crew on the second night of a back-to-back, the team will be forced to dig deep on Sunday.

The Suns are again down key players across the lineup due to injury. Although they're at home, a rest disadvantage is just another hurdle to organization has to overcome in order to find the win column once more.

To gain a better perspective on the Raptors' side of the matchup, we caught up with Raptors On SI's Jeremy Brener for a quick preview of tonight:

What have the Raptors been up to since their game against the Suns 10 days ago?

The Raptors built a bit of a winning streak after coming out on top against the Suns. They took care of business against the Detroit Pistons and Chicago Bulls, but fell to Nikola Jokic and the Denver Nuggets in the second game of their road trip.

The Raptors are back in fifth place in the Eastern Conference, and they need to be extremely focused because the teams behind them are right on their tail.

How much of an advantage should the Raptors have with the Suns coming off of a loss last night to the Milwaukee Bucks?

It definitely will play somewhat of a factor, but the Raptors still have to treat the Suns no different. The Raptors have been inconsistent when it comes to getting out to strong starts. They usually wait until the second half to kind of put their stamp on the game in order to beat a team that's on the second night of a back-to-back.

They are going to have to start with a little bit more urgency.

Who is the Raptors’ X-Factor in this particular matchup?

Jakob Poeltl has been pretty strong for the Raptors as of late. He has looked more like his usual self after spending a good chunk of the season on the sidelines with a back injury. Now that he is playing well, he can be more of a consistent part of the team's offense, and that should pay dividends for them.

If the Raptors were to lose to the Suns, what would be the reason why?

If the Raptors get two lags in the second half, they will lose this game. They have struggled when it comes to holding leads in the fourth quarter in recent weeks, and they could easily fall into that trap against the Suns if they go up big early.

What’s your prediction for the game?

The Raptors are playing in this game with the rest advantage, and they also had a winning formula against the Suns when they last played less than two weeks ago. The Suns will be coming in hot, but I feel like the Raptors have more going for them going into the game, which is why Toronto should win this game by around 10 points.