Phoenix Suns v Houston Rockets 12/21 Game Preview

Phoenix Suns (8-20) v Houston Rockets (21-8)

Monday 12/21/2016 6:00pm
Talking Stick Resort Arena, Phoenix, AZ
Fox Sports Arizona /Arizona Sports 98.7FM

Season Series – Series tied 0-0
All-Time Series – Phoenix leads 107-95
Last Matchup – April 7, 2016 Phoenix won 124-115
Suns’ Last Game – Loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves 115-108
Rockets’ Last Game – Loss to the San Antonio Spurs 102-100
Suns’ Scoring Averages – PTS/G: 106.4 (9th of 30) Opp PTS/G: 113.1 (28th of 30)
Rockets’ Scoring Averages – PTS/G: 112.6 (2nd of 30) Opp PTS/G: 105.7 (19th of 30)

Preview

Phoenix Suns

Though the Suns had not led since very early in the game, Phoenix had possession of the ball and a chance to take the lead with less than four minutes remaining in the fourth quarter. Poor shooting – including two missed free throws – and several turnovers, coupled with the inability to stop the Timberwolves on defense, led to the Suns’ 20th loss on the season – the fastest the Suns have reached the 20-loss plateau since their inaugural season of 1968-69 when that team was 6-20. For the official Valley of the Suns recap and opinions on the loss to Minnesota, read here…Although the Suns are only 11th in the league in field goals made at 39.1, they are only 1.7 behind second place Toronto. The discrepancy lies in the Suns’ poor field goal percentage, where they are 22nd overall, hooting 44.0%, due to their second place position in field goals attempted with 88.9 per game, .1 off of league-leading New York Knicks…The Suns had been shooting more three’s for a short time recently, but over their last two games have not shot more than 22, and are still ranked 22nd in the league in three-point shooting attempts. This could be mainly due to their poor three-point shooting, as they average only 33.8%, 21st overall…Phoenix remains dead last in assists per game at 18.2, as well as personal fouls per game with 25.5…They are 26th overall in turnovers with 16.1…Phoenix is third in the league in points off turnovers, scoring 18.5 per game, .3 ahead of fourth overall Houston…Bledsoe is having a good year for Phoenix, leading the team in scoring with 20.0 points, and assists with 5.3 per game. Bledsoe is fourth on the team in rebounding with 5.3 behind Tyson Chandler, Alex Len, and .1 behind P.J. Tucker…Jared Dudley and Devin Booker each have 44 three-point field goals on the season. However Booker has taken 137 shots from outside vs Dudley 96. Dudley is top-5 in the NBA in three-point shooting percentage with 45.8%, and Booker is shooting 32.1%…P.J. Tucker is a 27.7% three-point shooter, and yet, 41.2% of his shots are from three-point range. 81.0% of his three-point shots are from the corner, which he makes 31.4% of them…

Houston Rockets

Tonight’s game is Mike D’Antoni’s first back in Phoenix as a Head Coach since he was with the Los Angeles Lakers in 2013-14…Even with Houston’s The Houston Rockets shoot three-pointers like they are going out of style, making 14.6 of 38.9 per game, both leading the league, at a 37.5% clip, sixth overall in the league…A large part being their NBA record 61 three-point attempts the other night, Houston as been averaging 50 three-point attempts in their past three games. They are averaging 15.7 makes in their past three games as well, both leading the league. It is then no surprise that the Rockets are first overall in percentage of points from three-pointers at 38.9%, although over their past three games they are averaging 42.3% of all points scored from beyond the arc…Count on the Rockets to get out and run as well as the Suns, as they are fourth overall in fastbreak points per game with 16.3…The Rockets like to get out to a quick start and lead the league in 1st quarter scoring, with 31.3, six points ahead of 24th place Phoenix…Houston is third in the Association with 40.4 field goals per game, eighth in attempts at 87.0, and sixth in percentage with 46.5%. However, they are second overall in eFG% with 54.9…The Rockets are second in the league in assists with 25.3 per game…They are tied with Phoenix in turnovers, averaging 16.1…Houston barely blocks more shots than Phoenix, and both are in the bottom half in the league with that statistic as Houston averages 4.7 to Phoenix’s 4.4…Houston averages 5.6 fewer fouls per game, at 19.9, 12th in the league…They are also one of the least fouled teams in the league, 25th overall, only fouled 19.2 times per game…James Harden is having a monster year under Mike D’Antoni, averaging 27.8 points, 11.7 assists, 8.1 rebounds, (each which lead the team), and 3.0 three’s per game. Harden also already has six triple-doubles on the season…Although they are going to be without Clint Capela for the next four-to-six weeks with a small fibula fracture, five Houston players average double-digit scoring, including Capela’s 11.8…