Here is what we are seeing at Footprint Center before the Phoenix Suns continue its three-game home stand against the Indiana Pacers at 7 p.m. MST:
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-Bradley Beal (right knee swelling) will return after missing the past two games and 10 overall this season. He suffered the injury before the Suns beat the Utah Jazz 134-126 last Friday and did not play against the Portland Trail Blazers on Sunday.
-Isaiah Jackson (right Achilles tendon tear), Aaron Nesmith (left ankle sprain) and James Wiseman (left Achilles tendon tear) are all out for the Pacers. Listed as questionable, Ben Sheppard (left oblique strain) was upgraded to available pregame.
Pregame quotes
Suns coach Mike Budenholzer
On Tyus Jones’ importance: “I think he’s just a really good player and I think the fit has been really good. He gets everybody to their home base, with Brad [Beal] and Devin [Booker] playing more off the ball, where they’ve done most of their career, and he gets us organized. Gets guys into their spots and he’s a leader, he’s unselfish. We’re actually trying to push him to be more aggressive and he’s just a good, smart, high-character guy that I think any coach, any team would want on their team and we feel fortunate to have him.”
Thoughts on how the team has performed 25 games into the season: “We always talk about that individual pride, being able to guard the ball, taking on the challenge and I think our guys have really embraced that, and again, while there’s always time to improve and get better, I think just guarding the dribble, guarding the ball and we got to continue to emphasize that and be great there. Where we can improve, I think it’s always on the pick-and-roll coverages and guarding at the point of the screen, maybe adjusting with pick-and-roll being such a big part of the game. I think we’ve had stretches where our transition defense hasn’t been as good as it needs to be. If you’re going to be a good defensive team, you got to be good in transition, you got to be good at guarding the pick-and-roll, so we got to keep pushing that envelope.”
Pacers coach Rick Carlisle
On facing the Suns with Beal’s return: “What doesn’t make them tough really, that might be the question. They all can cause major problems. They can all break anybody down, they’ll pass the ball as well as score it. All these guys can go for 50 or 60 points. We know that, and we’ve seen that. So the other thing is the team is very well constructed with great shooting, and therefore, there are diverse differences but they all fit. Bud [Budenholzer] uses three centers on a lot of nights, and they all add something unique.”
On Suns with Kevin Durant vs. without him: “I mean, you’re talking about Kevin Durant, one of the all-time great basketball players. I mean, forget about the scoring. A lot of people go to one of the great scorers, the greatest scorer, the guy is a great basketball player. He’s a problem. He can do everything. He can rebound, block shots, he can guard people and his length is ridiculous. He’s a great basketball player. So get a guy like that. That guy is a great difference maker and in some of the other games, I don’t know that they’ve had their other two stars either. So, it’s a tough question to answer in specifics, other than to say Durant is one of the greatest basketball players I’ve ever seen.”
Starting lineups
Phoenix Suns starting lineup vs. Indiana Pacers
Tyus Jones
Devin Booker
Bradley Beal
Kevin Durant
Jusuf Nurkić#SunsUp #NBA #YesCers— Burn City Suns ☀️ (@BurnCitySuns) December 20, 2024
Indiana Pacers starting lineup vs. Phoenix Suns
Tyrese Haliburton
Andrew Nembhard
Bennedict Mathurin (University of Arizona product)
Pascal Siakam
Myles Turner#SunsUp #NBA #YesCers— Burn City Suns ☀️ (@BurnCitySuns) December 20, 2024
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Reporter Alec Cipollini covers the Phoenix Suns, ASU Athletics and more for Burn City Sports. You can follow him on his X account, @AlecCipollini
