Game 64: Los Angeles Lakers (30-32) @ Phoenix Suns (12-51) - 9:00 PM ET

[Saberestar]

Ayton 14 FTA - is he now "The Big Aggressive" ?

Yet to watch the game, so no idea if it was him, or Igor started using him properly.

He played pretty agressive tonight and helped him that Kuzma was his defender early in the game.

One of his best games of the season. I love that he went to the FT line a lot.

Defensively he was all night on LeBron and he made a solid job.

[bwgood77]

Bit of a segue (and some wishful thinking perhaps), but if we're lucky enough to win the Zion sweepstakes this game made me more confident that both guys can coexist. On defense Ayton could at times be put on 'smaller bigs' and disrupt them with his length while Zion would be our rim protector - hopefully with both these guys being to alternate roles seamlessly to keep the offense guessing.

I've thought of that too but despite Zion being a good shot blocker and having a great vertical, I don't know if I would consider him a rim protector type being only 6'6 with a 6'10 wingspan. Though I do think he could body up bigs and block some shots in there.

But the hard part for them is the offense. Hopefully both can learn how to shoot with range...then they could be devastating offensively.

[SlovenianDragon]

One of my favorite moments from the game was where Oubre made a good play and did that head shake he does and booker did it as well.

Same thing happened some games back with Bridges.

Chemistry is a big deal to me and loving the Oubre effect. Energy and hustle can be contagious.

[zero2hero]

Bit of a segue (and some wishful thinking perhaps), but if we're lucky enough to win the Zion sweepstakes this game made me more confident that both guys can coexist. On defense Ayton could at times be put on 'smaller bigs' and disrupt them with his length while Zion would be our rim protector - hopefully with both these guys being to alternate roles seamlessly to keep the offense guessing.

I've thought of that too but despite Zion being a good shot blocker and having a great vertical, I don't know if I would consider him a rim protector type being only 6'6 with a 6'10 wingspan. Though I do think he could body up bigs and block some shots in there.

But the hard part for them is the offense. Hopefully both can learn how to shoot with range...then they could be devastating offensively.

Zion has average measurable but you surely can't discount that he's probably the most athletic basketball player on Earth.

[starbosa10]

One of my favorite moments from the game was where Oubre made a good play and did that head shake he does and booker did it as well.

Same thing happened some games back with Bridges.

Chemistry is a big deal to me and loving the Oubre effect. Energy and hustle can be contagious.

Yeah that Oubre deal has been pretty good. Wonder how much it would cost to keep him

[SuperSunsFan]

of all the three small forwards Kelly is definitely the one i would choose to keep. JJ's shot will always be broken and TJ's lack of foot speed will always hinder him defensively, and who knows if his unreal 3pt shooting this year is a fluke or not. Kelly is more the complete player with relatively less weaknesses in his game among the three, unless he naturally has a low motor and only turning it up bc of contract year, but according to wizards fans that doesn't seem to be the case.

[LukasBMW]

One of my favorite moments from the game was where Oubre made a good play and did that head shake he does and booker did it as well.

Same thing happened some games back with Bridges.

Chemistry is a big deal to me and loving the Oubre effect. Energy and hustle can be contagious.

One of the things that gives me hope is that this team has not quit like they did with Watson. We may not always bring energy for 48 minutes, but Igor has our guys playing hard. Many of our losses were games we could have won. We've actually been watchable this year. Even though I'm not sold on Igor, that tells me he deserves one more year.

Book's body language and tone have also improved since the allstar break.

Holmes and Oubre bring it! I like having Oubre in the starting 5 for that fire.

Attitude wise, JJ is the only rotation player I'm not sure about, but he is still young.

When TJ gets back, I think we should finish the year with:

Tyler/Melton
Book/Bridges
Oubre/JJ
TJ
Ayton/Holmes

[Saberestar]

Read on Twitter

[spanishninja]

Read on Twitter

Somebody get this family a reality show!

[sunsbum]

I love it. Lebron would have exactly 0 championships if he played in the west his entire career.

[TeamTragic]

Read on Twitter

[lilfishi22]

Only caught the last 5min of the game so I'll watch the whole game later but how was Ayton getting his FTA's?

[hollywood6964]

Read on Twitter

30 n 20, so absurd. 25 n 12 would be at least a reasonable, if not lofty, expectation.

[lilfishi22]

“Shoot for the moon. Even if you miss, you'll land among the stars.”

[bwgood77]

Bit of a segue (and some wishful thinking perhaps), but if we're lucky enough to win the Zion sweepstakes this game made me more confident that both guys can coexist. On defense Ayton could at times be put on 'smaller bigs' and disrupt them with his length while Zion would be our rim protector - hopefully with both these guys being to alternate roles seamlessly to keep the offense guessing.

I've thought of that too but despite Zion being a good shot blocker and having a great vertical, I don't know if I would consider him a rim protector type being only 6'6 with a 6'10 wingspan. Though I do think he could body up bigs and block some shots in there.

But the hard part for them is the offense. Hopefully both can learn how to shoot with range...then they could be devastating offensively.

Zion has average measurable but you surely can't discount that he's probably the most athletic basketball player on Earth.

Sure, but a big part of rim protection is just height, length and disruption at the rim. While he could provide that with his hops. Most of this is usually simply to not jumping but having your arms up and bodying guys. He could do that too but many people could lay it around and over him easier than with traditional rim protectors. I do think he is a guy that will block a lot of shots...but just wouldn't necessarily call him a rim protector. A lot of his blocks may come away from rim or on chase down stuff.

[sunstrooper]

I still can’t believe I was at the arena to see a win over LA in my first trip to Phoenix and a win over LeClown no less. So many yellow jerseys and quite some cavs and heat too was definitely odd, but no surprise.
I think Ayton has been working on his footwork and positioning when receiving passes in the post. However, the team still hasn’t quite figured out how to respond to doubleteams on Booker. Oubre imo is improving and giving so much energy to the guys and since he started passing instead of going headfirst every time he gets the ball I think he must be kept next season.

[lilfishi22]

I still can’t believe I was at the arena to see a win over LA in my first trip to Phoenix and a win over LeClown no less. So many yellow jerseys and quite some cavs and heat too was definitely odd, but no surprise.
I think Ayton has been working on his footwork and positioning when receiving passes in the post. However, the team still hasn’t quite figured out how to respond to doubleteams on Booker. Oubre imo is improving and giving so much energy to the guys and since he started passing instead of going headfirst every time he gets the ball I think he must be kept next season.

Booker himself hasn't either. I don't get the guy some times. He sees the double coming but he does nothing with hte ball except be forced to pick it up and throw a desperate and dangerous pass that focus defenders could see and pick off. When he sees the double team coming, he should be moving or attacking it while it hasn't full formed yet to allow the offense to find the open man. But instead he holds onto it, wastes time in the possession and wastes what could be a good pass and turns it into a desperate and purposeless one.

[sunstrooper]

Agree that it is mostly on Booker. But still at least one of the other guys has to move towards him to receive the ball and they are a bit passive waiting on him too much to make a hero play.

[Years90Suns]

One of my favorite moments from the game was where Oubre made a good play and did that head shake he does and booker did it as well.

Same thing happened some games back with Bridges.

Chemistry is a big deal to me and loving the Oubre effect. Energy and hustle can be contagious.

Yeah that Oubre deal has been pretty good. Wonder how much it would cost to keep him

Players in contract years ALWAYS have outstanding seasons. That's a fact.