Preview: Suns Host Lakers for Sunday Showdown

The Phoenix Suns and Los Angeles Lakers will meet later today.

Dec 1, 2025; Los Angeles, California, USA; Phoenix Suns guard Devin Booker (1) moves the ball up court against the Los Angeles Lakers during the first half at Crypto.com Arena. Mandatory Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Images | Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Images

Who: Los Angeles Lakers at Phoenix Suns
What: NBA Regular Season Action
When: Sunday, Dec. 14 at 6:00 PM MST
Where: Mortgage Matchup Center, Phoenix, AZ

The Phoenix Suns play host to the Los Angeles Lakers for Sunday evening basketball at Mortgage Matchup Center in consolation bracket action following both teams exiting the NBA Cup quarterfinals.

The Suns and Lakers respectively enter this matchup having a 1-2 record in their last three games, though L.A.'s 17-7 record is good enough for fifth in the West while Phoenix's 14-11 mark has them as the No. 7 seed.

The Suns got the win in their first meeting back on Dec. 1 -- though things just might be different this time around.

Suns vs Lakers Injury Report

Dec 1, 2025; Los Angeles, California, USA; Phoenix Suns guard Devin Booker (1) controls the ball against the against the Los Angeles Lakers during the first half at Crypto.com Arena. Mandatory Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Images | Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Images

For Phoenix, Devin Booker (groin) and Dillon Brooks (achilles) are both questionable entering tonight while Jalen Green still remains out.

The Lakers have ruled out Austin Reaves (left calf strain) and Maxi Kleber (lumbar strain).

Booker has progressed well in recent days after initially exiting their last meeting against Los Angeles with the groin injury, which has kept him out the last three games.

Brooks has been dealing with the Achilles injury but has been toughing things out with Booker on the bench -- we'll see if the Suns opt to be cautious with the injury.

Tale of the Tape

The Lakers are tenth in the NBA in points per game (118.3) while the Suns are 20th at 114.8.

Luka Doncic leads all NBA players in scoring at 35 points per night while also being tied for third in assists per game at nine.

Without Booker, Phoenix hasn't scored over 100 points in two of their last three.

The Suns do have active hands on the defensive side of the ball, leading the league in steals per night at 10.8.

Both squads are bottom seven in team rebounds and neither team quite pushes the pace of play, either.

In their last matchup against the Lakers, Brooks and Collin Gillespie combined for 61 points.

Doncic had 38 while no other L.A. player had more than 16. The Lakers' mix of 22 turnovers and sub-40% shooting from deep against the Suns earlier in December probably isn't the best recipe for success, either.

We'll see how Jordan Ott and JJ Redick adapt their gameplans with recent form and their prior matchup in mind.