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PHOENIX — The Phoenix Suns are hoping to extend their winning streak to three tonight, though the red-hot San Antonio Spurs stand in the way.
Phoenix finds themselves as underdogs entering Monday's clash at Mortgage Matchup Center, and with Jordan Goodwin down for tonight, defending will be a bit tougher than usual against the Spurs.
The Suns are underdogs, and they're hoping to bite with this starting five:
This is the same lineup as Phoenix's last few games after initially rolling into the regular season with Khaman Maluach as their starting center.
Opening tip is slated for just past 7:00 pm MST.
All eyes are on Victor Wembanyama tonight, who Suns head coach Jordan Ott deemed the "ultimate" test for Phoenix's big-man duo of Oso Ighodaro and Khaman Maluach.
"Ultimate Test, right? 48 minutes of great center play. People have tried different matchups, whether it's even a bigger wing on him to provide some type of rim protection behind a little bit of a cross-match. And I think those reps in the preseason, we will use some of that," Ott said pre-game.
"They both had their their shots at him, but this is a whole new ball game when you get into the regular season. And then just reading the flow of the game, who has the best matchup with him? Can we provide enough support around whoever has him, and then keep him from the rim? That's the biggest part. Like you can't be above the rim. It's really hard, especially with Oso, it's hard to to get up that high. So it's just all three different layers. Try to provide the best support to whoever's defending as possible."
The Spurs are top five in both offensive and defensive net rating this season. After dropping their first two games, San Antonio has reeled off eight-straight wins while deploying a three/four-guard lineup around Wembanyama.
Many didn't think the Suns had a chance against the Houston Rockets prior to their Saturday night upset, though San Antonio provides an entirely different ball game.