The Phoenix Suns invade the AT&T Center to take on the San Antonio Spurs on Monday night.
The Phoenix Suns have been the hottest team in the league as they are now riding a 12-game win streak after blowing past the Nuggets in a 126-97 home win last night. Cameron Johnson provided the spark off the bench with 22 points on nine of 15 shooting, DeAndre Ayton added 21 points on nine of 12 shooting, Devin Booker scored 17 points with seven assists while Jae Crowder chipped in with 15 points. As a team, the Suns shot 52 percent from the field and 11 of 36 from the 3-point line as they stormed out of the gates with a season-high 48 points in the first quarter to take the early double-digit lead which only grew in the second half where they held the Nuggets to just 37 points. Chris Paul finished with just nine points and 10 assists but played just 24 minutes as the game was decided before by the third quarter.
Meanwhile, the San Antonio Spurs have yet to hit their stride this season as they’ve lost 11 of their first 15 games and they will be hoping to arrest a four-game slide after getting thrashed by the Timberwolves in a 115-90 road loss on Thursday. Devin Vassell led the team in scoring with 18 points off the bench, Lonnie Walker and Keldon Johnson each scored 12 points while Doug McDermott chipped in with 11 points. As a team, the Spurs shot just 41 percent from the field and a miserly six of 32 from the 3-point line as they fell behind by double digits in the first quarter, before getting blown out in the fourth quarter where they managed just 12 points. Dejounte Murray had a night to forget as he finished with just seven points on two of 12 shooting, while Walker shot just five of 17 from the field and one of 10 from the 3-point line.
Looking at the betting trends, the Suns are 5-1 ATS in their last six games against a team with a losing record, 0-3-1 ATS in their last four games playing on zero days’ rest and 7-3 ATS in their last 10 games overall. The Spurs are 0-4 ATS in their last four games as an underdog, 10-4 ATS in their last 14 games playing on three or more days’ rest and 0-4 ATS in their last four games overall.
Head to head, the over is 5-2 in the last seven meetings overall and the Suns are 3-0-1 ATS in the last four meetings in San Antonio.
The Suns are playing this one on zero days’ rest, but they are clearly the team in better form in this matchup. The Spurs have really struggled to get going this season and their confidence took yet another hit after getting blown out by the Timberwolves in their last outing. Yes, the Spurs have the advantage of extra rest as they haven’t played since Thursday, but the bookies just aren’t giving me enough points in this one for me to back against the Suns. I’m sticking with Phoenix to extend their streak with another win here.