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Who: San Antonio Spurs @ Phoenix Suns

When: Sat, Dec 14th, @ 3:00pm (5ET), FSNAZ, NBATV

Where: Mexico City Arena, Mexico City, Mexico






San Antonio Spurs starting lineup:

C- Gay

F- Aldridge

F- Derozan

G- Forbes

G- White


Reserves: Murray/Mills/Poeltl/Belinelli





Phoenix Suns starting lineup:

C- Baynes

F- Saric

F- Oubre Jr

G- Booker

G- Rubio


Reserves: Kaminsky/Bridges/Cam/Diallo



I am going full homo here we are desperate for a win!

Are we actually starting Baynes? Is Monty finally getting tired of hemorrhaging bucket after bucket?

um, you may want to change the game location.

Thank god we have Ricky Rubio otherwise Booker would be out there looking like Blake Griffin.

I think this is a big test for Monty. Spurs backcourt is very deep. I would like to see the Suns' guard playing better defense than the ghastly performance against the Grizzlies.

Crazy thing is that Spurs suck so bad this year that the Suns still have a good chance to win even without Booker and Ayton.

On the other hand, just the Suns luck that Booker would get injured as soon as Ayton is about to return.

So, without Booker, Cam should start right?

Booker getting hurt right when Ayton comes back is really the most suns thing ever.

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Man I hope he just sits out without trying to play through something he can easily aggravate. It’s what he did last year when he ended up missing a ton of games after trying to play through the hamstring injury and then re-injuring it.

I know he’ll want to play especially with the game being in Mexico and all but still.

WeekapaugGroove wrote:Booker getting hurt right when Ayton comes back is really the most suns thing ever.

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It is the nature of the league. Everyone gets hurt.
82 games played in six months with this crazy high pace is too much. No one can resist this stress on his body.

Losing a couple games here and there it's not a big deal in the long run, but it is true that we need Booker badly on the court. I mean... every game that he is out is a lost game already in my mind. Hopefully he is healthy pretty soon.

Saberestar wrote:

WeekapaugGroove wrote:Booker getting hurt right when Ayton comes back is really the most suns thing ever.

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It is the nature of the league. Everyone gets hurt.
82 games played in six months with this crazy high pace is too much. No one can resist this stress on his body.

Losing a couple games here and there it's not a big deal in the long run, but it is true that we need Booker badly on the court. I mean... every game that he is out is a lost game already in my mind. Hopefully he is healthy pretty soon.

Not really, if Ayton was back, we can handle some wins with him out. With both out I agree that is difficult.

Dual wrote:

Saberestar wrote:

WeekapaugGroove wrote:Booker getting hurt right when Ayton comes back is really the most suns thing ever.

Sent from my Pixel 2 XL using RealGM mobile app

It is the nature of the league. Everyone gets hurt.
82 games played in six months with this crazy high pace is too much. No one can resist this stress on his body.

Losing a couple games here and there it's not a big deal in the long run, but it is true that we need Booker badly on the court. I mean... every game that he is out is a lost game already in my mind. Hopefully he is healthy pretty soon.

Not really, if Ayton was back, we can handle some wins with him out. With both out I agree that is difficult.

I am too lazy to find the actual stats, but when Booker is out our record is crazy bad. He gets so much attention from defenses... he creates opportunities to score just staying on the court, he doesn't even need to touch the ball.

Give Ricky a good inside player and he will make his magic.
As I said right now Booker is our only scoring reference, that will change with Ayton. And with Booker out, Cam can replace him as shooter.
Dont get me wrong, Booker is our star, no doubt.

spanishninja wrote:um, you may want to change the game location.

Done. I sincerely apologize.

SunsRback4Good wrote:

spanishninja wrote:um, you may want to change the game location.

Done. I sincerely apologize.

Rudy Gay is a center now ? lol I really fell behind on all things NBA

RiRuSuns wrote:

SunsRback4Good wrote:

spanishninja wrote:um, you may want to change the game location.

Done. I sincerely apologize.

Rudy Gay is a center now ? lol I really fell behind on all things NBA

I was surprised as well. He has been center the past two games maybe until Poeltl gets healthier.

This and the next games are must wins IMO. Both the Spurs and Blazers are coming off bad losses and winning both these games would not only put the Suns at .500 but would create a nice bit of separation between Phoenix and two playoff teams were directly competing with for a playoff spot.

The Suns will be better with Ayton back, but there will be a learning curve in the beginning as well with working him back into the line-up. The Suns basically missed a third of the season of chemistry building so there will be some losses as a result (especially with a more difficult schedule coming up for the remainder of December).

If the Suns can create a bit of separation between themselves and these two teams, it will create a small buffer to offset any setbacks over the next couple of weeks caused by being in the process of building chemistry and having a tougher schedule.

With the West being as close as it is this year - games against direct playoff spot competitors are of extra importance.

Mr Puddles wrote:This and the next games are must wins IMO. Both the Spurs and Blazers are coming off bad losses and winning both these games would not only put the Suns at .500 but would create a nice bit of separation between Phoenix and two playoff teams were directly competing with for a playoff spot.

The Suns will be better with Ayton back, but there will be a learning curve in the beginning as well with working him back into the line-up. The Suns basically missed a third of the season of chemistry building so there will be some losses as a result (especially with a more difficult schedule coming up for the remainder of December).

If the Suns can create a bit of separation between themselves and these two teams, it will create a small buffer to offset any setbacks over the next couple of weeks caused by being in the process of building chemistry and having a tougher schedule.

With the West being as close as it is this year - games against direct playoff spot competitors are of extra importance.

Yes, I also usually say Booker shouldn't play if slightly injured so it won't linger, but I think this is a situation where I would probably play him if close to 100% in these two games before Ayton gets back, and then when Ayton gets back you can start Bridges and Oubre at 2/3 if need be, or potentially Cam, but even without Booker, a bench of Okobo or Jerome, Tyler Johnson, Cam, Kaminsky and Baynes would be fine if Booker needs to heal a couple days.

bwgood77 wrote:

Mr Puddles wrote:This and the next games are must wins IMO. Both the Spurs and Blazers are coming off bad losses and winning both these games would not only put the Suns at .500 but would create a nice bit of separation between Phoenix and two playoff teams were directly competing with for a playoff spot.

The Suns will be better with Ayton back, but there will be a learning curve in the beginning as well with working him back into the line-up. The Suns basically missed a third of the season of chemistry building so there will be some losses as a result (especially with a more difficult schedule coming up for the remainder of December).

If the Suns can create a bit of separation between themselves and these two teams, it will create a small buffer to offset any setbacks over the next couple of weeks caused by being in the process of building chemistry and having a tougher schedule.

With the West being as close as it is this year - games against direct playoff spot competitors are of extra importance.

Yes, I also usually say Booker shouldn't play if slightly injured so it won't linger, but I think this is a situation where I would probably play him if close to 100% in these two games before Ayton gets back, and then when Ayton gets back you can start Bridges and Oubre at 2/3 if need be, or potentially Cam, but even without Booker, a bench of Okobo or Jerome, Tyler Johnson, Cam, Kaminsky and Baynes would be fine if Booker needs to heal a couple days.

I'm with you on this. Play Book these two games if we can and then rest him when Ayton comes back. The team usually plays pretty tough for the first game or two when Book goes down from extra effort before falling off the cliff.