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Pregame notes: Suns wrap up three-game home stand with battle against Heat

Jan 29, 2024; Miami, Florida, USA; Miami Heat forward Jimmy Butler (22) is fouled by Phoenix Suns guard Bradley Beal (3) during the fourth quarter at Kaseya Center. Mandatory Credit: Sam Navarro-Imagn Images

Here’s what we’re seeing from Footprint Center before the Phoenix Suns take on the Philadelphia 76ers at 7 p.m. PT:

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Injury Report

  • Bradley Beal (Right Elbow Soreness) is probable, set to play for the Suns. Beal has been questionable for the past five games before tonight.
  • Jaime Jaquez Jr. (Stomach Gastroenteritis) and Kevin Love (Return to Competition Reconditioning) are both out for the Heat. Love has yet to play this season and Jaquez Jr. played five games before missing Miami’s last game vs. the Milwaukee Bucks on Monday.

Pregame press conference quotes

Suns coach Mike Budenholzer:

  • On Tyus Jones in the starting lineup: “I mean, it’s great having that pure point guard that has the mentality to set everybody up, has the mentality to lead the group. I think it’s just been a huge difference maker for us and he’s got a great job and a little bit of a hard job too, trying to get everybody involved and everybody the ball. I don’t think there could be anybody better for us than Tyus (Jones).”
  • On implementing a structure or playing freely: “Yeah, I mean, it starts in open gym, trying to get them to do all the things you just described with the ball, moving people, moving different screens, different combinations and then throughout practice. Maybe in warm-ups, through drills, through breakdowns, just so it’s kind of a recurring theme and I think they do a lot of individual work, which is obviously mostly about them, but hopefully in that individual work. They’re also starting to learn and better understand all the different kinds of environments and how we want to play. They’re great players, they’ve been great to kind of take to it quickly.”

Heat coach Mike Spoelstra

  • On former University of Arizona standout Pelle Larsson: “He had the kind of impact where he made you watch him this summer. Our Summer League team was able to win the Summer League Championship, and he was a big part of that. His game-deciding shot to win it. But he’s a veteran college player, so he had a little bit more maturity than some of the draft picks that come into the league. But he also had impactful moments in college where that led to winning. Probably, a lot of people saw him as only a role player without a lot of potential. We saw it as somebody that you can plug and play right away, and he still does have a big upside.”
  • On what it was like to coach Devin Booker in the 2024 Paris Olympics: “I just love the fact that when there’s discussion about the team, and before they select the team, he said, “Hey, I’ll play any role.” That’s what the USA program is all about. Everybody just commits to one common goal. It’s much different than the NBA. It’s a sprint and every one of us had different roles than you typically have in an NBA season. But he absolutely embraced it. He’s a winning player for sure. His role was really to defend the other team’s best wing players, to dog them, and pick up full-court play with physicality. He did it at an exceptional level. He just has a knack for scoring important baskets during swing moments, and he did that as well.”

Starting lineups

 

Pregame media

 

 

 

Erik Spoelstra praises Devin Booker for being ‘winning player’ for Team USA

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Reporter Alec Cipollini covers the Phoenix Mercury, Suns and ASU Athletics for Burn City Sports. You can follow him on his X account, @AlecCipollini

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