NBA Opening Night: Suns, Warriors look to ignite rivalry; key matchup and prediction
The Phoenix Suns and Golden State Warriors will reignite a potential rivalry on NBA opening night.
The Phoenix Suns and Golden State Warriors are set to tip off the NBA season on opening night as both of these teams are talented and considered title contenders. This game will be played at Chase Arena on the Warriors home floor where they were 33-8 last season.
The Suns lead the all-time series 147-112 but the Suns would rather catch up to the Warriors in championships and the road to the title begins tonight. The Suns won the season series last year defeating the Warriors three times out of the last four. The Suns hope to take advantage early as they will try and steal a win on the road.
A Phoenix Suns primer
The Suns roster underwent a reconstruction of sorts during the offseason. With Devin Booker and Kevin Durant already on board, the Suns were able to facilitate a trade in order to acquire Bradley Beal. Out are Chris Paul and Deandre Ayton and joining the team are Bol Bol, Jusuf Nurkic, Nasir Little, and Eric Gordon, the newcomers are expected to provide enough help to support the Suns Big 3.
With all of their offseason moves, the front office is sending a clear message of what they expect out of this group. Anything less than a Finals appearance would be considered a major disappointment. The two things that could derail their season would be chemistry issues and injuries. As long as they are healthy, opponents will have a difficult time trying to defend this potent offense.
There were concerns about the Suns not having a true point guard on the roster but since Booker and Durant are going to have the ball in their hands most of the time, there really isn’t a necessity to go out and spend for one. After three seasons of sharing a backcourt with one of the greatest to ever do it, one would think Booker learned a thing or two during his tenure with Paul.
None of the Big 3 for the Suns need the ball in their hands all the time in order to be effective so sharing the ball shouldn’t be an issue. However, the Suns will be at their best with Durant on the floor. He is a threat from anywhere on the floor, and when he initiates and attacks, it opens things up for everyone else.
The Suns Big 3 all are ranked in the top 10 for the highest scoring averages since the 2018-19 season. Durant ranks 6th, Beal is 9th, and Booker is 10th respectfully. The overall offensive talent on this roster could be overwhelming for some of their opponents and the bench should be just fine as long as they have one of the Big 3 on the floor with them.
If the Suns can win the tough games on the road, starting tonight against a tough Warriors team, they can put themselves in a prime position to dictate how they distribute rest among the players and how they go about the rest of the season.
Last season the Suns had almost no depth on their bench. They now have turned that around with the new additions and that mixed with one of the best cores in the league should lead to success and hopefully a win to begin the season.