8:08 pm
November 10

Nets @ Suns

Who will WIN this matchup?

Brooklyn Nets (4-4)

@ Phoenix Suns (5-3)

 

Current odds:

Brooklyn Nets: (+125)

Phoenix Suns: (-145)

 

The line for this game is Suns by 3 points.

Opposing perimeter players aren’t having much trouble scoring against the Brooklyn Nets, but Kyrie Irving is making sure their own offense keeps up. Irving and the Nets will try to push their winning streak to three straight when they visit the Phoenix Suns on Sunday. Brooklyn allowed Brandon Ingram to go off for 40 points against the New Orleans Pelicans on Monday and watched Damian Lillard put up 60 on Friday but managed to earn the win in both contests as Irving averaged 36 points. “This was a great steppingstone for us to grow as a group,” Irving told reporters after the 119-115 victory at Portland. “That game could have gone either way, but down the stretch, we executed defensively. We ran the right plays in the fourth quarter. The last few practices really helped us.”

The Suns have a perimeter player capable of putting up 60 points in shooting guard Devin Booker and are off to a strong start, raising expectations for themselves and drawing the attention of other teams. “We are a part of the scouting report that’s real,” coach Monty Williams told reporters after watching his team’s three-game winning streak come to an end with a 124-108 loss to Miami on Thursday. “People are talking about us. We’re not sneaking up on teams. I think teams know when they come and play against us, they got to bring it and we didn’t bring it like we had been, but our guys have to understand that teams are preparing for us differently now.”

Irving is third in the NBA in scoring entering play on Saturday at an average of 31.9 points but for the first time this season did not lead the team in scoring on Friday, when reserve guard Spencer Dinwiddie went off for 34 points on 11-of-18 shooting. Dinwiddie, who knocked down six 3-pointers and added five rebounds and four assists on Friday, was held to single digits in two of the previous three contests and was 8-of-33 from beyond the arc over the first seven games. “He got a lot in the flow of the offense,” Brooklyn coach Kenny Atkinson told reporters of Dinwiddie. “Only a couple of plays were called. That was the old Spencer.”

Phoenix was feeling good about itself after beginning a six-game homestand with a 114-109 victory over the Philadelphia 76ers on Monday but let up on the defensive end Thursday while allowing the Heat to shoot 54.9 percent from the floor. “You hate losing a game, but you can also redeem some really good stuff from a loss,” Williams told reporters. “Because we have really good guys, they were all on board. They all knew what we needed to do.” The Suns, who will face the top two teams in their respective conferences in the Boston Celtics and Los Angeles Lakers during the homestand, need a better effort on the perimeter after Miami went 15-of-28 from beyond the arc.

Nets C DeAndre Jordan (ankle) left Friday’s game and is day-to-day.

Suns C Aron Baynes is averaging 20.5 points on 57.4 percent shooting over the last four contests.

Brooklyn took the last three in the series, including a 104-82 victory at Phoenix last season.

5/10
Confidence
StreakSmarter Pick
Phoenix Suns