San Antonio Spurs at Phoenix Suns: What to watch for and TV info
By Andrew Ites
The San Antonio Spurs travel to Phoenix to take on the Suns on Halloween night. Will it be trick-or-treat for the Spurs as they look for their fifth win?
The San Antonio Spurs have had an exciting start to the season as they sit at 4-2 including two thrilling overtime wins in the past couple of weeks.
San Antonio’s role players have stepped up to fill in for those who are out with preseason injuries, but they’ve been led by their two All-NBA players in DeMar DeRozan and LaMarcus Aldridge.
DeRozan has dropped 28.3 points per game this season with 8 assists and 6 rebounds per night. As I predicted in the preseason, he’s having the most efficient year of his career thus far with a true shooting percentage of 55.9% and a player efficiency rating of 24.4 through six games (both career-highs).
LaMarcus Aldridge hasn’t been as efficient as his All-Star counterpart but he’s been dominant on the boards with over 10 rebounds per game to go along with 20 points per night.
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The Suns will certainly struggle to slow those two down as they come into this game with the league’s 27th-ranked defense. The Spurs‘ 11th-ranked offense should be able to fill it up in Phoenix and keep their hot start going.
Phoenix may struggle to score as well as defend considering Devin Booker is currently questionable with a hamstring injury that has kept him out for the past two games. Booker has scored 27.8 points with 6.8 assists per game when he’s been on the floor this season, and the Suns’ offense could be a bit stagnant without their budding superstar.
If Booker is out, the Spurs can focus their defensive effort on stopping rookie center DeAndre Ayton who has averaged a double-double through his first six NBA games (17.5 points and 10.3 rebounds).
LaMarcus Aldridge, Pau Gasol and Jakob Poeltl will all be tasked with guarding Ayton at different times throughout this contest assuming Poeltl plays after not seeing the floor for a single minute in three of the past four games.
The Spurs should be heavy road favorites in this one as they try to improve their record to 5-2 this season.
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