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| It's been a while since the Nets and Suns have played each other that Steve Nash wasn't on the Phoenix squad |
When: 7:30 PM; Friday, January 11th, 2013
Where: Barclays Center; Brooklyn, NY
TV: YES Network
Right now, the Phoenix Suns, mired in mediocrity after losing franchise point guard Steve Nash this offseason to the Lakers, are stuck in a familiar situation to one the Nets were in a few years ago. They have a few decent players (like Marcin Gortat, Goran Dragic, and Jared Dudley, to name a few) but are very young for the most part and have nearly no substantial depth to speak of. Without a star in the star-necessary NBA, the Suns, like a few other smaller-market teams (the Bucks are a good comparison) are stuck in the middle. Not a team to likely only win 20-25 games and be at the top of the lottery, Phoenix will likely land in the 30s, giving them a middle-of-the-pack 1st-rounder, which probably won't give them a star rookie ready to help right away.
It's this not-awful, not-good team that is in the unluckiest situation in the NBA in the league's current state. For most of these type of teams, it takes them awhile to regain respectability and a contending product. However, just looking at tonight, the product a team of the Suns' caliber looks to be a great matchup for a Nets team that is rolling at the moment and has absolutely crushed two other teams like it in its last two games. Going to have to take a near-Herculean effort from the Suns (or a totally dismal one from the Nets) to knock Brooklyn off course.
Probable Lineups
PHX- Dragic (PG), Tucker (SG), Dudley (SF), Scola (PF), Gortat (C)
BKN- D-Will (PG), Johnson (SG), Wallace (SF), Evans (PF), Lopez (C)
Final Thoughts
The Nets, in their last two wins, against the Kings and 76ers respectively, won by 20-point margins. No reason why they can't, or shouldn't be able to, do that tonight.
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