The Suns end their five-game road trip against Kevin Durant’s former team.
Who: Phoenix Suns (21-21) @ Brooklyn Nets (14-30)
When: 5:30 pm Arizona Time
Where: Barclays Center, Brooklyn, New York
Watch: AZFamily, Suns Live
Listen: KMVP 98.7
After getting completely obliterated 118-92 against the Cleveland Cavaliers on Monday, the Phoenix Suns look to end their longest road trip of the season on a positive note against the struggling Brooklyn Nets.
The Valley is 2-2 on the road trip so far, with wins against the Washington Wizards and the Detroit Pistons and losses to the Atlanta Hawks and the Cavs. Phoenix is currently on a three-game winning streak at the Barclay’s Center, with their last loss to the Nets on the road back in 2021 when Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant lit up the Suns for a combined 67 points to withstand Devin Booker’s 36-point outing.
Probable Starters
Injury Report
Suns
Bradley Beal — QUESTIONABLE (Ankle)
Jusuf Nurkić — OUT (Illness)
Nets
D’Angelo Russell — OUT (Rest)
Cameron Johnson — DOUBTFUL (Ankle)
Ben Simmons — OUT (Illness)
Bojan Bogdanovic — OUT (Foot)
Cam Thomas — OUT (Hamstring)
Trendon Watford — OUT (Hamstring)
Ziare Williams — OUT (Ankle)
Maxwell Lewis — OUT (Tibia)
Uniform Matchup
What to Watch For
How is KD’s return received by the fans?
Now two seasons removed from his time in Brooklyn, the Slim Reaper will be making his second return to the Barclay’s Center since being traded. In his first return game a season ago, he received a warm applause from the crowd in pregame when his name was called when they announced the Suns starting lineup. The Nets are further removed from their competitive ways when Durant was on the roster than they were a year ago. Brooklyn traded away Mikal Bridges, the main piece they received in the Durant deal, to the New York Knicks last summer and has already traded Dorian Finney-Smith and Dennis Schroeder to start the season.
Nick Richards regressed to the means on Monday, how does he play?
After an elite first game for the Suns, going for 21 points and 11 rebounds in the team’s 125-121 win against the Detroit Pistons on Saturday, Nick Richards had a quiet and bad performance against the Cleveland Cavaliers on Monday in his first start for the team. He went for just four points and four boards and was a team-worst -26. Is Richards’s first or second game with the Suns more of an indication of how he is going to fit with Phoenix going forward?
Key to a Suns Win
Consistent effort for 48 minutes
It’s a cliche thing to say about them this season, but Phoenix can’t play a consistent brand of hoops for an entire game, which is why they’ve inexplicably lost many games to inferior opponents and whittled away large leads. It’s a big deal in the Valley media when the team is playing hard at any point of a game.
Enjoy this, Suns fans. Enjoy this… https://t.co/gY8Psr2KwU
— John Voita (@DarthVoita) January 17, 2025
The Nets are one of the worst teams in the league and have especially been bad since they traded Schroeder and Finney-Smith, so it may not matter for the win. However, if Phoenix can come out of this road trip 3-2 and feel good about their last game on it, it can be a positive step in the right direction for the team as they head home for a three-game stand.
Prediction
The Suns have struggled against lesser opponents of late. Last week, they had problems putting away the Washington Wizards, and two weeks ago, they straight up lost to the Charlotte Hornets. Despite their inconsistency and struggles, just like the Wizards, the Nets do not have the star power to take advantage of the Suns inconsistency, give me Phoenix by eight.
Suns 112, Nets 104