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The Cavs take on the Phoenix Suns on the second night of a back-to-back at home. The Suns were off yesterday and are the healthier team with the Cavs still missing Mitchell, Mobley, Strus, and Wade. The Suns are 37-27 overall, 6-6 in their last 12, and 16-13 on the road. Eric Gordon, averaging 12 ppg off the bench, is out for Phoenix.
The Suns are led by Kevin Durant with a line of 28/7/5. KD is hitting 53% from the field and 42% on 3’s. Devin Booker is averaging 27.5 points and 7 assists on 49% and 38%. Bradley Beal averages 18 points on 50% and 38%. The Suns have a lot of offensive talent at the top of their roster.
SG Grayson Allen averages 13.0 points on 50% and 47%. C Jusuf Nurkic averages 12 points and 11 rebounds on 52% overall. Royce O’Neale averages 9 points and 6 rebounds in 29 minutes per game.
As a team the Suns average 117 ppg, good for 12th, on 49.2% overall and 37.6% on 3’s. They only rank 23rd on points in the paint and 21st on fast breaks, so it appears that a lot of their scoring comes from mid-range jumpers in the half-court offense.
The Suns are 23rd in 3-point rate but make a high percentage of the 3’s they take, ranking 6th in 3-point accuracy. They turn the ball over a lot, ranking 26th in turnovers per possession, but they draw a ton of fouls, ranking 3rd in free throw attempts per possession.
Despite ranking 27th in field goal attempts per game the Suns are 12th in scoring due to accurate shooting and lots of free throws. They average 20 made free throws per game and are 9th in effective field goal percentage.
Defensively the Suns are average, ranking 16th in scoring defense. They are well above average in forcing missed shots, ranking 8th in opponents’ effective field goal percentage. They’re also 7th in block percentage and 6th in opponents’ 2-point percentage. The reason they’re not above average in scoring defense is they don’t force many turnovers (ranking 25th) and they are below average on the defensive glass, ranking 20th in defensive rebound percentage.
The Cavs are riddled with injuries and couldn’t even beat the Nets last night, so I don’t think a win is in the cards this time, especially on the second night of a back-to-back with four of their top seven players out. This should be a game to get experience for Porter, Merrill, Bates, and Isaiah Mobley.
The Suns' three-headed scoring monster of Durant, Booker, and Beal average 74 points per game and Grayson Allen and Jusuf Nurkic combine for 25 more. This is a very experienced crew; Booker, Allen, Beal, and Nurkic are all 28-30 years old and Durant is 35.
The Suns don’t have much of a bench, in my opinion, or at least their scoring numbers are not impressive. It might be interesting to see how the starting fives do since the Cavs have a veteran unit in Garland, LeVert, Allen, Okoro, and Niang. However, our bench is extremely young.
I think the Durant/Niang matchup at power forward will go very badly for the Cavs. They could try Jarrett Allen on Durant, but then who checks the 7’0”, 290 pound Nurkic?
Our best shot is if Niang messes with Durant and gets him to throw a punch and get himself ejected.
The Suns are led by Kevin Durant with a line of 28/7/5. KD is hitting 53% from the field and 42% on 3’s. Devin Booker is averaging 27.5 points and 7 assists on 49% and 38%. Bradley Beal averages 18 points on 50% and 38%. The Suns have a lot of offensive talent at the top of their roster.
SG Grayson Allen averages 13.0 points on 50% and 47%. C Jusuf Nurkic averages 12 points and 11 rebounds on 52% overall. Royce O’Neale averages 9 points and 6 rebounds in 29 minutes per game.
As a team the Suns average 117 ppg, good for 12th, on 49.2% overall and 37.6% on 3’s. They only rank 23rd on points in the paint and 21st on fast breaks, so it appears that a lot of their scoring comes from mid-range jumpers in the half-court offense.
The Suns are 23rd in 3-point rate but make a high percentage of the 3’s they take, ranking 6th in 3-point accuracy. They turn the ball over a lot, ranking 26th in turnovers per possession, but they draw a ton of fouls, ranking 3rd in free throw attempts per possession.
Despite ranking 27th in field goal attempts per game the Suns are 12th in scoring due to accurate shooting and lots of free throws. They average 20 made free throws per game and are 9th in effective field goal percentage.
Defensively the Suns are average, ranking 16th in scoring defense. They are well above average in forcing missed shots, ranking 8th in opponents’ effective field goal percentage. They’re also 7th in block percentage and 6th in opponents’ 2-point percentage. The reason they’re not above average in scoring defense is they don’t force many turnovers (ranking 25th) and they are below average on the defensive glass, ranking 20th in defensive rebound percentage.
The Cavs are riddled with injuries and couldn’t even beat the Nets last night, so I don’t think a win is in the cards this time, especially on the second night of a back-to-back with four of their top seven players out. This should be a game to get experience for Porter, Merrill, Bates, and Isaiah Mobley.
The Suns' three-headed scoring monster of Durant, Booker, and Beal average 74 points per game and Grayson Allen and Jusuf Nurkic combine for 25 more. This is a very experienced crew; Booker, Allen, Beal, and Nurkic are all 28-30 years old and Durant is 35.
The Suns don’t have much of a bench, in my opinion, or at least their scoring numbers are not impressive. It might be interesting to see how the starting fives do since the Cavs have a veteran unit in Garland, LeVert, Allen, Okoro, and Niang. However, our bench is extremely young.
I think the Durant/Niang matchup at power forward will go very badly for the Cavs. They could try Jarrett Allen on Durant, but then who checks the 7’0”, 290 pound Nurkic?
Our best shot is if Niang messes with Durant and gets him to throw a punch and get himself ejected.
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