Preview: Jazz Host Suns for In-Season Tournament Battle

The Phoenix Suns are embarking on a two-game road trip this weekend, playing two contests in a row against the Utah Jazz in Salt Lake City.

The Jazz (4-7, 2-0 group play) and Suns (5-6, 0-1 group play) came into the season with wildly different expectations, yet both sit in roughly the same position about three weeks into the season.

The Suns will likely be without Bradley Beal once again tonight, as the star is listed as doubtful with the lingering back issue.

The silver lining of Beal's return to the wrong side of the injury report is Devin Booker's return. The star is listed as probable for the game tonight, and he has not disappointed, becoming the first Sun to compile 30 points/5 assists in the first three games played for the Suns this season.

Utah's injury report is clean, save for Walker Kessler, so expect to see most of the team in action tonight.

What are some things for Suns fans to focus on outside of the Suns' injury uncertainty and both teams being inconsistent to start the new year?

Three storylines to watch tonight:

Jazz Getting Back on Track?

Utah has had an up-and-down season thus far after coming into the season with expectations to at least replicate the overachieving they did last season.

Utah has struggled to replicate the success they dealt with last season- for the most part.

The Lauri Markkanen-lead squad started out the season 2-3 before a four-game losing streak put them at 2-7. Two wins against the struggling Memphis Grizzlies and Portland Trail Blazers has lessened the sting of a poor start to the season, but two straight games against Phoenix followed by a trip to Los Angeles to face the Lakers is a tough task for the upstart squad to take on.

The Jazz are a talented enough squad to stay in the play-in race, but they almost certainly need to reel off some wins against more talented squads - and soon.

Scoreboard Watching?

Game two of the in-season tournament for Phoenix comes with a catch - the Suns need both a win and a Lakers loss to have a shot to win their group.

The Lakers - having dominated Memphis in group play on Tuesday - hold a 1.5 game lead and the tiebreaker over Phoenix.

Los Angeles plays let another group stage game tonight against the struggling Trail Blazers, a game in which they are favored to win handily.

The Suns and Lakers games will both be going on concurrently, so it will be an interesting case of early-season score watching for Suns fans.

Lack of Point Guard for Jazz Advantage for Suns?

The Jazz are a team that is chock full of worthy NBA talent, but if they have one glaring weakness, it's the lack of a true point guard.

While Utah's playmaking is a team-based effort, it is less than ideal that Talen Horton-Tucker is leading the team in assists per game. Jordan Clarkson, Keyonte George, Kelly Olynyk, and Collin Sexton are other Jazz players averaging at least three dimes a contest.

While Utah does surprisingly boast a figure of 27.2 assists per game as a squad, the lack of a true point showed in their 126-104 loss to Phoenix back in October.

While there are a bunch of high-quality shot creators on the floor at any given time for Utah, the ball movement and shot distribution can become too predictable at times, and the Phoenix defense made life difficult for the Jazz for much of that contest.

The Suns and Jazz tip off from the Delta Center shortly after 8 PM Arizona time tonight. The game will be dually broadcast on ESPN and AZ Family.