With Eric Bledsoe getting shut down for the season last week, the Suns got even more younger – Alex Len and TJ Warren are the oldest starters and they are only 23!
The average age of their current starting lineup is now at 21.2, and it showed in the 112-97 manhandling they received from the Miami Heat Tuesday night, with seven Heat players being able to score in double figures.
The headliners of Phoenix’s youthful bunch – Devin Booker, Marquesse Chriss, and Tyler Ulis – combined for 18 of the team’s 24 turnovers for the game. Chriss gets a small pass since he posted 24 points, seven rebounds, and two steals, but Booker and Ulis were really forgettable in the contest, as they coupled their carelessness for the ball by also collectively shooting 8-for-27 from the floor.
Phoenix will now enter tomorrow’s matchup having lost seven of its last eight (2-6 ATS), while also being stuck at the bottom allowed (112.1 PPG), defensive efficiency, assists, threes, and turnovers committed. It’s like they are begging us not to put money on them.
The Suns lost their previous meeting with the Nets, 122-104, and only shot 40-for-107 as a team (37.4 percent).
The Nets will be coming off a great win, as they edged out the Pistons this past Tuesday, 98-96, with Brook Lopez hitting a wild jumper as time expired. He finished with a game-high 29 points to go along his seven rebounds.
Though they are very much eliminated and just playing the season through, the team could be liking their chances for another win tomorrow. As mentioned, they topped the Suns in their visit to Arizona in November, thanks to six Nets recording double-digit points, including Rondae Hollis-Jefferson, who filled the stat sheet for 20 points, 13 rebounds, and four assists. He is chipping in 9.2 points and 6.4 rebounds in just 23.1 minutes of play since being a full-time starter in February, and will continually be eyed as a key support for Lopez.
Like Phoenix, Brooklyn is also at the bottom of various stat categories. The scoring is there (105.7 PPG, 13th overall), but in points allowed, offensive efficiency, and defensive efficiency, the ranking is consistently at the bottom three.
Brooklyn is 2-18 in its last 20 games at home (6-14 ATS).
