The final weekend of the regular season is finally upon us. The Phoenix Suns and the San Antonio Spurs will battle it out on Saturday afternoon in a game with playoff implications in the Western Conference. Phoenix is unlikely to usurp Utah for the #1 seed, and the Spurs are already locked in to their seed. So, while it is a rest day, it will also help both teams see what they have at the end of their bench.
Phoenix has overachieved in every way possible throughout the year. A full decade has gone by since they last saw themselves in the playoffs. Steve Nash was still here at that point. It was the first year of Amar’e Stoudemire with the “revamped” New York Knicks. Now, led by the duo of Chris Paul and Devin Booker, they are back and hoping to make some noise. There is so much uncertainty in the West, though.
San Antonio will be back in the play-in tournament after falling just short under the different rules in the bubble. They have been up and down but are good enough to qualify. They are an intriguing team to watch with all of their youth and athleticism. Jakob Poeltl is one of the best shot blockers in the league. But today, they will be resting DeMar DeRozan and possibly Dejounte Murray.
ODDS
Saturday’s spread is set at PHX -10.5, favoring the visitors. The over/under is set at 222.5 points.
Phoenix Seeking 50th Win
Normally, a team winning 50 games is a feel-good season, but it’s not something contenders aspire to. They usually want to win 55-60 to prove how dominant they can be. Given the fact that this season was only slated at 72 games, 50 is very good. It means you’ve won better than 70% of total contests. The Suns now sit at 49-21.
Like all teams in the NBA, they lost some games they should have won. They won some games that they should have lost. But the addition of CP3, plus the rapid ascension of Mikal Bridges, has made them a dangerous squad. They will be the likely prize of the team who wins the 7/8 play-in game.
Let’s see what Monty Williams team can do.
Spurs Looking to Make It Through the Day
There is nothing at stake for the Spurs this weekend. No matter what happens, they are locked in to the #10 seed. It’s how things are. They will play their first play-in game on Wednesday, giving them two days off in between after a weekend back-to-back. They will be up late on Sunday evening watching the 9:00 ET start times with Portland, LA, and Dallas.
It has been an overall solid year. They learned that Poeltl could be the starting center of the future. Dejounte Murray is more versatile than expected. Keldon Johnson and Lonnie Walker IV both have bright futures in this league. But also, Derrick White is fragile, and that should be a real concern moving forward.
Suns Win Big
The game won’t be close, and the Suns will dominate a Spurs team with nothing to play for in this game.
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