Preview: Suns Look to Break Out of Funk vs Kings

The Phoenix Suns (14-13) are set to wrap up their quick two-game road slate against the Sacramento Kings (16-10) on Friday night.

The Suns have been reeling in recent weeks, going 3-7 following their seven-game win streak that spanned until Nov 29.

Phoenix currently sits at 10th in the West and has two prime opportunities to pick up strong wins in the coming days, as they are set to host the Dallas Mavericks on Christmas night.

Jusuf Nurkic is notably out for the game against the Kings due to personal reasons. He joins Bradley Beal and Damion Lee.

Three storylines to look out for tonight:

Kings: Model of Consistency?

The Kings, for better or worse, have been quite consistent in their last month of action.

Sacramento seems to either score 125 points in wins or get blown out in losses- they suffered a pair of eye-opening losses to both the Los Angeles Clippers and the New Orleans Pelicans before a 144-119 loss to the Boston Celtics on Wednesday night.

While the Kings are a respectable 8-6 since November 20, only one of those losses were by single digits.

The vast majority were ugly losses in games where their offense was stagnant and defense was equally porous in return.

The moral of the story: the Kings go as far as their offense takes them. The franchise did little to address questions on the defensive end of the ball this summer and the myriad of shooters/creators they possess often will the team to high-flying wins.

But when the team gets cold, the results can get ugly.

How Will Suns Deal With Nurkic's Absence?

Jusuf Nurkic was promptly listed as out on Thursday night due to personal reasons.

The big man has been reliable this season- starting and appearing in all 27 of the Suns' contests in this campaign.

One would hope this absence will only last this one game, but how does Phoenix plan to replace him in a game against an all-star big man in Domantas Sabonis?

Drew Eubanks will likely get the start - which might be a positive for Phoenix when it comes to the defensive side of the ball, but there's an obvious trade-off on offense on the flip side.

What do the Suns do in non-Eubanks minutes?

The options are limited, but are in plain sight.

Coach Vogel could utilize either Chimezie Metu or Kevin Durant at small-ball five, or give the little-used Bol Bol another shot in the rotation.

None of these are ideal, but Phoenix has to be adaptable at this time in a period where the squad is lacking of any true identity.

Kings Player to Watch: Keegan Murray

The number four pick in the 2022 draft out of Iowa has been a seamless fit for the newly minted playoff threats in Sacramento.

The Kings remain high enough on Murray that they reportedly have refused to entertain discussions with the second-year player's name involved in any capacity.

Murray flashed the third-star potential on December 16 against the Utah Jazz - a game where he hit 12 three-pointers en route to a career-high 47 points.

Murray is averaging 19.6 PPG in December while shooting 50% from three. He is certainly the non-Fox player that Phoenix should be focused on.

Phoenix and Sacramento are set to tip off shortly after 8 PM Arizona time.