Game Preview: San Antonio Spurs visit Phoenix Suns

San Antonio Spurs vs Phoenix Suns

Talking Stick Resort Arena, Phoenix, AZ
Date: 2/21/16, Time: 4:00 PM Spurs Time
TV: FSSW - RADIO: 1200 AM WOAI

The Rodeo Road Trip continues this afternoon as the Spurs finally leave LA and head to Phoenix. San Antonio will take on the hapless Suns after just squeaking by the also hapless Lakers.  The schedule is is full of happlessness lately. Yes, that's a made up word. It seems fitting given the Spurs struggles since the All-Star Break. Of course the whining and gnashing of teeth generally doesn't take into account the fact that the Spurs have been without the services of their best player, Kawhi Leonard. The Spurs have also been missing Manu Ginbilli as he recovers from surgery.

The good news is that coming off of a win against Kobe Bryant and the Lakers the Spurs roll in to face a Suns squad that is really, truly, genuinely struggling (they wish they were Spurs struggling). Phoenix has lost ten games in a row and just traded Markieff Morris. Of course the Suns are hoping the Morris trade will be some addition by subtraction, but he had improved his play recently by averaging 20 ppg, 7.5 rpg and 4.5 apg since Earl Watson took over as head coach.  That said, I don't think Suns fans are upset about the trade. A side note about the trade, DeJuan Blair was included in the trade, but appears to have been waived by the Suns, which is good for San Antonio since Blair has become another one of those random Spurs killers.

The bad news doesn't stop there for Phoenix. They have had a slew up injuries with the most recent being Tyson Chandler who messed up his shoulder.  The Suns may only have 10 healthy players against the Spurs today. I believe that P.J. Tucker is the only healthy Suns player that was a part of their rotation during their 7-5 start to the season. It's rough in the desert this year.

I anticipate that this will be another game for Leonard to sit out. There's not much sense in rushing him back this game. Despite the Spurs likely missing some of their key players this game should be an fairly easy victory. The Suns are bad. Pop should be able to get plenty of burn for the bench players. More than anything the Spurs should be able to use this game to knock off the remnants of the rust from All-Star Weekend. I fully expect San Antonio to handle business and make quick work of this depleted Suns team.

I also just want mention that the whoever thought it was a good idea to name the arena there in Phoenix "Talking Stick" should be put in charge of more arena naming rights. That's golden. On to my completely wild guess of who the starters will be in this game:

Game prediction: Spurs by 14.

For the Suns fans' perspective, visit Bright Side Of The Sun.

As always, Tony must dominate Fisher.