Western Conference rivals clash for the third time this month when Phoenix hosts the Los Angeles Lakers on Tuesday.
The Suns split the first two games with the Lakers, winning 125-108 in Los Angeles on Dec. 1 before losing 116-114 in Phoenix on Dec. 14. The Suns managed to overcome Luka Doncic’s 38-point, 11-rebound performance in the win, partly by forcing 22 Lakers turnovers, but they committed 20 turnovers of their own in the loss.
Turnovers both created and lost have been a recurring theme for the Suns through an up-and-down opening two months to the season. Phoenix is second in the NBA in takeaways with 16.8 per game, due in part to seven Suns who have played in at least 18 games that average at least a steal per contest.
Phoenix’s 11.1 steals per game leads the league. However, the Suns are committing 15.2 turnovers per game, sixth-most in the NBA.
Phoenix must keep giveaways to a minimum Tuesday while employing an up-tempo strategy, as guard Collin Gillespie told the Arizona Republic.
“Play with pace. They’re an older team,” Gillespie said. “We’ve got to get up and down.”
For the veteran-laden Los Angeles roster, Tuesday marks the finale in a four-game road swing that began in Phoenix. The Lakers are also playing their seventh road contest in the last eight, with the only break to the trek coming at a neutral-site matchup with San Antonio in Las Vegas for the NBA Cup quarterfinals.
Los Angeles is 4-3 over this span away from home after dropping a 103-88 decision to the crosstown-counterpart Clippers on Saturday. The Lakers’ 88 points marked a season low, and the loss was just the second time they fell short of the century mark this season.
Adding to the disappointment of a setback against a struggling Clippers team was losing Doncic midway through due to a left leg contusion. Doncic sustained the injury colliding with Bogdan Bogdanovic, and Lakers coach JJ Redick said Monday that Doncic is considered day-to-day.
“No matter what the circumstance is, it’s still next man up,” LeBron James said. “We’re all professionals. We all got to stay ready. So, obviously, very challenging circumstances for our ballclub (Saturday).”
James scored a season-high 36 points in the loss to the Clippers, carrying the offensive load with leading scorers Doncic (a league-leading 34.1 points per game) and Austin Reaves (27.8 points per game) sidelined.
Reaves is out with a calf injury. The Lakers have also recently faced the absences of Gabe Vincent (back), Rui Hachimura on Saturday with a groin injury and former Sun Deandre Ayton due to an elbow injury.
Ayton, the No. 1 overall pick of the 2018 draft and a key contributor in Phoenix’s run to the 2021 NBA Finals, went for 20 points on 10-of-11 shooting from the floor and grabbed 13 rebounds in the Dec. 14 meeting with the Suns.
He has been sidelined since.
Ayton and former teammate Devin Booker, Phoenix’s leading scorer at 25.6 points per game, have had heated on-court interactions since the former’s trade to Portland in 2023. Booker and Doncic have also had an intense rivalry dating back to Doncic’s time in Dallas, with his trade to the Lakers last season adding another dimension to the longtime Phoenix-Los Angeles rivalry.
