The knockout round of the inaugural NBA In-Season Tournament has arrived for the Phoenix Suns, who are set to take on the Los Angeles Lakers on the road at 8 p.m. MST tonight.
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!With that comes a whole new element to the NBA, a single-elimination game. Of course, there are Game 7s and other elimination scenarios in the playoffs, but this is new territory for the league.
Speaking of this, we will see two of the best “win or go home” players in NBA history in Kevin Durant and LeBron James duke it out tonight.
All-time scoring leaders in WIN OR GO HOME games (min. 5 games):
Michael Jordan: 36.8 PPG (5 games)
Kevin Durant: 36.2 PPG (5 games)
LeBron James: 34.9 PPG (8 games) pic.twitter.com/mrEl4D7DPd— NBA (@NBA) December 5, 2023
The two entered this season having not played against one another since Christmas of 2018. Now, the superstars have played in two back-and-forth contests already this season with James and the Lakers coming out on top both of times.
James had 21 points, nine assists and eight rebounds in the Lakers’ 100-95 home victory over the Suns on Oct. 26. Durant’s 39 points and 11 rebounds proved to not be enough, as the Suns blew a huge fourth quarter lead in both teams’ second game of the year.
The two squared off once again in Phoenix on Nov. 10 to kick off their In-Season Tournament group play. James had 32 points, 11 rebounds and six assists to lead the Lakers to another fourth-quarter comeback and 122-119 victory. Durant had 38 points and nine rebounds in the loss. These are the two of the five games Durant has scored 38 points or more this season.
“I’m excited to compete against everybody in the league,” Durant said about playing James for the third time this season.
Suns’ coach Frank Vogel, who was also the Lakers coach from 2019-2021, shared his thoughts on the two players.
“I know it’s great to see KD and LeBron out there on the same floor for all fans,” Vogel said. “The fans should cherish it, to be able to see that type of matchup.”
Acknowledging the competitive aspect of the In-Season Tournament, there are also a ton of different factors this time around for Phoenix.
Devin Booker is Back
Devin Booker has missed nine total games this season and two of these games came in the Suns’ losses to the Lakers. Now, the Suns’ star returned from his latest injury on Saturday and is ready to go for this matchup.
“Missing any game is tough,” Booker said after Saturday’s 116-109 victory over the Grizzlies. “I’m excited for this one (against the Lakers). I know they’re playing well as of now, and they’re back healthy. They have their roster back, so it’ll be a heavyweight match in LA and a lot on the line, winner goes to Vegas. I think everyone’s looking forward to it.”
Vogel is looking forward to having his primary ball handler and leader of the team back.
“(Booker) makes us a better team,” Vogel said. “There’s no doubt about that. And … not just because of his ability to score, but his defense, and he’s really organized us offensively.”
“It’s not really about the matchup,” Allen said. “Just having him back changes the dynamic of our team and how we play. We raise the level when he’s on the court much better with him, so we’re always happy to have him back, especially for big matchups like this.”
As for the Suns and what they can do, Booker playing specifically means the Lakers can’t hone in on Durant as much as they did in the first two matchups.
“I feel like we can make them pay a little bit better now that we’ve seen it before, we’ve been around each other a little bit more, we got chemistry,” Durant said. “So I think that trial and error is going to help us out this time around, but it’s still gonna be a tough task.”
Durant’s relationship with Booker has grown firmly throughout his time in Phoenix.
“It’s special to play with a player who understands the game on that level,” Durant said. “He’s been at the highest level of basketball, playing in the Finals, playing in the Olympics, playing in the All-Star game. So, we kind of understand what the highest level of basketball is like. And so, we always have constant communication of what we see out there, and so it makes the game easier for everybody when we both are on the court. So, the more games and more reps we get under our belt, the better we become as a team.”
"It's just special to play with a player who understands the game on that level."
🗣️ @KDTrey5 on playing with @DevinBook @MountainAmerica | #ComingInHot pic.twitter.com/RWhgfEZctS
— Phoenix Suns (@Suns) December 5, 2023
The last time these two teams met in what was an elimination game for the Lakers, Booker dropped 47 points in the first round of the 2021 NBA playoffs to knock LA out after they had just won the championship the year prior.
Relive Devin Booker dropping his Playoff career-high 47 PTS (33 in 1st half) vs. the Lakers in 2021 before the Suns visit Los Angeles tonight at 10pm/et on ESPN! pic.twitter.com/PHE5Og3njM
— NBA (@NBA) March 22, 2023
A Playoff-Like Approach
With this tournament being brand new, the Suns are approaching this matchup different than a regular season bout.
Allen detailed how yesterday’s practice is not what a team would typically due during the regular season.
“Guys are locked in,” Allen said. “Kind of having this full day to prepare. Most of the times during the regular season a day like this would be a tune-up, clean-up kind of day, less about your next opponent, more about you. But for us, having an off day and then a full day in preparation for the next game with this being a big In-Season Tournament (game), we have a full day to prepare for the Lakers here. Instead of just going through shootaround the next morning, we get a whole practice to do it. It feels more like the playoffs from that sense of having a full day, more time to go in depth in film and matchups and stuff.”
Vogel explained how he’s looking to get his team prepared for the game.
“(We took) a little deeper dive in terms of the game planning and whatnot, we have seen this team twice already,” Vogel said. “So, we’re familiar to some of the things that they’ve done, but we’ve also grown a lot as a team. Our system growth almost makes the last game we played (against the Lakers) a little bit unrecognizable (from) the way we’re playing now. So, reasons to be encouraged, but the preparation we did dive a little deeper than we would a regular season game.”
Asked #Suns coach Frank Vogel yesterday if he’s using a playoff-like approach for tonight’s game against the #Lakers.
He detailed some specifics of how the preparation is different and added the team’s growth “almost makes the last game we played a little bit unrecognizable” pic.twitter.com/4cGfucQDSx
— Brendan Mau (@brendan_mau) December 5, 2023
“Almost … Unrecognizable”
As Vogel said above, the Suns have changed so much since they last played the Lakers.
The Suns fell to 4-5 in their previous loss to the Lakers and are 8-3 since, highlighted by a seven-game win streak that started two games after the loss. In this span, players like Jusuf Nurkić, Nassir Little and Jordan Goodwin have really come alive.
Durant echoed this same sentiment that Vogel expressed.
“Obviously having Book(er) back is a huge factor into the whole matchup,” Durant said. “But guys (are) more settled into their roles than the second game this season, and I think we played with two or three weeks ago. More guys just getting comfortable with time. You can say the same thing for their team, they getting an understanding of one another more, and they know their roles a little bit more and different guys are playing in the rotation. So, I think it’ll be two different teams out there come tomorrow night, and it should be a fun matchup.”
Followed up on this with #Suns Kevin Durant, who felt very similarly to Vogel
"Obviously having (Devin Booker) back is a huge factor into the whole matchup, but guys (are also) more settled into their roles … I think it will be two different teams out there come tomorrow night” https://t.co/MxGHDSQ49v pic.twitter.com/HprPBGzFxo
— Brendan Mau (@brendan_mau) December 5, 2023
Allen agreed with how different the Suns are this time around.
“We’re still approaching it from playing to our strengths, and we’re still building on the stuff that we have for the past week,” Allen said. “It’s just a little bit more challenging to kind of go back and look at film from us playing them because we do things differently. Guys are playing differently. We have different guys in there. We’re using different lineups. So, it’s all going to be different.”
Grayson Allen: “We’re still approaching it from playing to our strengths, and we’re still building on the stuff that we have for the past week. It’s just a little bit more challenging to kind of go back and look at film from us playing them because we do things differently” https://t.co/qTVxCYGoYz pic.twitter.com/Osi7lQUrGq
— Brendan Mau (@brendan_mau) December 5, 2023
Tonight’s game is sure to bring a whole new level of competitiveness to what has already been a highly-competitive season series so far.
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Brendan Mau is a senior writer covering the Phoenix Suns and more for Burn City Sports. You can follow him on X via @Brendan_Mau
