Tonight, the Footprint Center in Phoenix promises to be boiling hot. The Suns welcome their old haters from Los Angeles in yellow and purple and are ready to send them on vacation to Venice Beach. The Lakers play their season on this game, in other words, if you have to be a clutch once this year, it’s now or never.
The Lakers are playing big tonight, like really, really big. Their qualification for the play-in is more than in danger and a loss against the Suns would be eliminatory if the Spurs win in Denver at the same time. And hard to trust these Lakers when you see the defeats against the Pelicans or the Wizards recently. LA is on six straight losses, with only two wins in the last ten games. It doesn’t matter if LeBron James is there or not. The King can swing games with more than 35 points and 8 rebounds, the collective itself always collapses in the money time. We saw it again against the Pelicans last week. A 20-point lead at halftime to suffer a 41-25 in the 3rd quarter and violently choke against a direct opponent. As if the house wasn’t already burning enough, LeBron James and Anthony Davis are listed questionable for this crucial game. A new puzzle for Frank Vogel who must think about how to win a game against the best team in the League without potentially his two best players. In short, we have to hope that the villas in the Maldives are not already overbooked.
Overbooked, Book, Booker, Suns. The Cactus, for their part, could afford to rotate the workforce in order to keep a maximum of freshness for the postseason which is coming quickly. However, we know the rivalry that exists between Phoenix and Los Angeles. It is therefore a safe bet that the men of Monty Williams take malicious pleasure in pushing their old enemies. Devin Booker who bends his spiritual father’s team (we let you guess who) with a 50-point game is not just a possible scenario on NBA2K. Besides, little friendly advice, if you still have Devin Booker or Chris Paul in TTFL, go ahead with your eyes closed. Admittedly, the Suns are on two consecutive defeats, but this night the motivation will be quite different. From one, to obtain the 63rd victory of the season and thus beat the record of grandfather Barkley and uncle Nash. Two, do it in front of your audience to celebrate it all together. Three, send the Lakers away from the play-in and therefore the Playoffs. Three weeks ago, the Suns spanked their hated rival (140-111) for fun, today is history with a capital H.
Tonight, the NBA offers us a potential poster for the 1st round of the Playoffs, although it seems less and less realistic. Anthony Davis said last month that the Lakers would have beaten the Suns in the last postseason without the injuries, well now is the time to prove that it is still possible. See you at 4:30 a.m. for the start of hostilities!
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