Preview: Suns Look to End Losing Streak vs Lakers

The Phoenix Suns (19-18) are looking to get back to their winning ways against the Los Angeles Lakers (19-19) in yet another star-studded matchup in Los Angeles.

The Suns and Lakers went into the season praised by national pundits as having the best chances to knock the Denver Nuggets off the throne of the Western Conference.

Thus far, the season hasn't gone according to plan for either squad.

Both the Suns and Lakers are facing underwhelming records for the second consecutive season - although both squads had respectable showings in a playoff setting.

The Lakers lead the season series over the Suns three games to zero, and tonight's game could go a long way towards restoring momentum for whichever team comes out victorious.

Three things to watch:

Lakers Struggles Since In-Season Tournament

The Lakers approached the In-Season Tournament championship game against the Indiana Pacers sitting at a respectable record of 14-9.

They are a paltry 5-10 since.

While the Lakers are a combined 5-0 against fellow division rivals in the Suns and Clippers, they have suffered far too many poor losses and look to be more of the squad that started the 2022-23 season nearly 10 games below .500 than the one that made the conference finals.

Poor losses the Lakers have suffered since the IST title include blowouts to the lowly San Antonio Spurs, a mediocre Chicago Bulls squad and the Miami Heat sans Jimmy Butler - who the Suns handled just two days later.

While the Lakers do still have a chance as long as they have LeBron James and Anthony Davis at their disposal - time is running out to figure things out.

Suns: Should Vogel Try Five-Out Lineup?

The Lakers' 3-0 record against the Suns this season has much to do with the mismatch that is Anthony Davis vs Jusuf Nurkic.

Sure, Davis had a rough outing in their matchup on Nov. 10, but his sheer presence and retained athleticism makes him a difficult task for anyone on the Suns to contain.

It might be a risky proposition, but coach Vogel may want to consider running a five-out (small ball) lineup in spurts during the game tonight.

Simply put, no one on the Suns is going to go toe-to-toe with Davis on the low block. He will get his in all likelihood.

The Suns could flip the script on L.A., however, if they run a lineup of five shooters that spreads the Lakers' struggling defense even thinner than it's been.

A lineup of Beal, Booker, Allen, Gordon, and Durant would force Los Angeles to overplay the pass and not one player on the floor would have the ability to sag off.

That could truly open up so much for a Suns offense that has continued to struggle finding an identity.

Player to Watch: Taurean Prince

Prince has been the model of consistency for the Lakers this season, as the veteran wing has played and started in 36 of the Lakers' 38 completed games thus far.

Prince isn't an eye-popping talent and doesn't put up gaudy numbers in any sense of the imagination, but he is an ideal glue-guy in Darvin Ham's rotations.

Prince is shooting north of 39% from three-point range this season, is an extremely dependable defender within structure, and generally plays the game with anticipation.

While it's certainly fair to ponder if Ham has asked Prince to do too much this season, he has delivered for the most part- especially as a player on a discounted contract.

Watch out for Prince in the corner if the Suns and Lakers are locked in a close battle late.

Suns-Lakers is set to tip off shortly after 8 PM Arizona time and will be a nationally broadcast contest on TNT.