The Suns will look to continue their winning ways against the lowly Rockets.

What: Houston Rockets (14-39) @ Phoenix Suns (37-15)

When: Monday— 7:00 p.m. MST

Where: Phoenix, Arizona

Watch: Bally Sports Arizona

Listen: 98.7 FM

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After dropping a road game in the second of a back-to-back against the Clippers, the Suns got back on track with a convincing win and dominant second half performance against the Wizards on Saturday night. That victory guarenteed them a winning record for the first time since the 2013-14 season.

Their strong week also bumped them up to number one overall in NBA.com’s power rankings that just released this morning:

Phoenix will look to continue their run of excellence (winners in 10 of their last 12 games) against the reeling Houston Rockets who sit in second to last place in the Western Conference, and NBA for that matter.

John Wall is back for Houston, and on paper they don’t look at bad as their record indicates, but they just haven’t been able to establish an identity or any form of consistency in their chaotic, rollercoaster season.

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Projected Starters

Phoenix

• Deandre Ayton
• Jae Crowder
• Mikal Bridges
• Devin Booker
• Chris Paul

Houston

• Christian Wood
• Kelly Olynyk
• Jae’Sean Tate
• Kevin Porter Jr.
• John Wall

Injury Report

PHX: Abdel Nader (OUT)

HOU: Sterling Brown (DTD)

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Houston Notes

Despite the rough season they’ve had, the Rockets still have some weapons that can catch fire so it’s important for the Suns to not take them lightly by any means. John Wall is coming off a 30-point performance against the Warriors on Saturday. Christian Wood can fill it up, and you have Olynyk’s streaky shooting that has burned the Suns in the past.

The real wild card on their roster is Kevin Porter Jr., who has cooled down a bit in recent games, but has shown the ability to get hot and take over games when he’s in rhythm.

Phoenix Notes

These two teams met exactly a week ago, and the Suns allowed Houston to score 130 points only to scrape out a 3-point win after some struggles to close the game out. That’s far too close for comfort and something I’m sure Monty is using a bulletin board material to get them ready for this game.

The Rockets don’t play much defense, so expect this one to be a high scoring affair yet again. It would be preferable for Phoenix to get them to play at their pace and force them to execute in the half-court more frequently than they did in the first meeting where it turned into a track meet.

Devin Booker has been on a tear post-ASB, averaging just under 29 points per game on a 60 true shooting percentage, so expect another big night from him. The Suns do play the Heat tomorrow though, so it would be nice for them to put this one away early and get their starters some rest for the back-to-back against a heating-up Miami squad.

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Prediction

Suns win, 125-112.

I’m also feeling an Ayton 20-20 game tonight so I’ll just throw that on here.