Preview: Phoenix At Brooklyn
When: 7:30 PM ET, Tuesday, December 1, 2015
Where: Barclays Center, Brooklyn, New York
The Phoenix Suns began their road trip with a stronger defensive effort and snapped a four-game slide by beating the Toronto Raptors. The Suns will try to make it two straight when their six-game trip continues with a visit to the Brooklyn Nets on Tuesday.
Phoenix surrendered an average of 118.8 points during its four-game slide but cut that number to 102 at Toronto in a five-point triumph. “Defensively, we were better,” Suns coach Jeff Hornacek told reporters. “The last four games, we had been giving up a lot of points. We had been scoring a lot but had been giving up a lot. I thought our defensive effort was better.” Brooklyn has been strong on the defensive end in its last two games and found a way to grab a win by holding the Detroit Pistons to 16 fourth-quarter points in an 87-83 win on Sunday. Brook Lopez made up for a poor shooting performance by collecting six blocks and four steals in the victory.
TV: 7:30 p.m. ET, FSN Arizona (Phoenix), YES (Brooklyn)
ABOUT THE SUNS (8-9): Phoenix got a big lift from a former Brooklyn player when Mirza Teletovic went off for 20 points on Sunday. “I was moving,” Teletovic told reporters. “Every time someone drove, I tried to go behind my defender’s back so they couldn’t see me.” The 6-9 forward was a key reserve for a Nets team that went to the playoffs last year but was struggling to find some consistency with his new team before burying 6-of-7 3-pointers in 18 minutes off the bench on Sunday.
ABOUT THE NETS (4-13): Brooklyn came up just short in a 90-88 loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers on Saturday but put it together down the stretch on Sunday and grinded its way to a rare win. “We knew we had to do it on the defensive end, get stops there and keep them off the offensive glass,” Lopez, who added nine rebounds and five assists, told reporters. “I was just trying to give more help to the guards.” The Nets have won three straight home games while allowing an average of 90.7 points.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Suns F T.J. Warren is averaging 20.3 points on 27-of-42 shooting over the last three games.
2. Nets F Thaddeus Young posted a double-double in six of the last eight games.
3. Phoenix took both meetings last season, including a 108-100 overtime triumph at Brooklyn on March 6.
PREDICTION: Suns 109, Nets 101