Heading into the last NBA In-Season Tournament group play game today, the Phoenix Suns have a decent chance to advance to the final bracket of the NBA In-Season Tournament in Las Vegas in a couple weeks.
The Suns (9-6) take on the Memphis Grizzlies (3-11) at 3 p.m. MST today. Memphis has struggled mightily this season due to a ton of injuries, and the Suns pretty much need to blow them out to keep their Vegas hopes alive. The Lakers have already clinched the Suns’ group, and there is a single Wild Card spot in each conference awarded to the next best team out of all groups who did not win their group.
The deciding factor for this spot for the Suns will be point differential, so this is why they need to win by a decent margin today.
The Grizzlies will be missing at least seven players today: Ja Morant (league suspension), Steven Adams (right knee MCL surgery), Marcus Smart (left foot sprain), Brandon Clarke (left achilles tendon repair), Luke Kennard (left knee bone bruise), Xavier Tillman (left knee injury recovery) and Jake LaRavia (left eye abrasion). Desmond Bane is a game-time decision with a left foot sprain, so this number could increase
However, the Suns just listed Kevin Durant as out for this game. Drew Eubanks (left ankle sprain), Bradley Beal (low back strain), Yuta Watanabe (left quad contusion) and Damion Lee (right meniscus surgery) are all already out for the Suns.
Even still, Phoenix should be able to beat Memphis by a large amount. Here’s how the Western Conference In-season Tournament standings look right now, as the Suns are one game back of the Wild Card spot
The Kings and and Timberwolves are both undefeated and square off today, so this will be the biggest game to watch for the Suns. Both have one more remaining game, so we will not know for sure what happens with these two until Tuesday.
The Nuggets and Warriors each have one loss and also matchup today, so the winner of this game will be the competition for the Suns heading into Tuesday. If the Nuggets win, we will know after tonight’s Pelicans game if they are ahead of the Suns. New Orleans owns the head-to-head tiebreaker with the Nuggets, so they will have to defeat the Clippers tonight to clinch that group. If New Orleans loses, they will be eliminated with a Suns’ victory, but if both teams win the Suns will have to see how their point differential compares with Denver’s. If Houston beats Denver, we will have to wait until Tuesday when they play the Mavericks to see how this shapes out.
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