Spurs at Suns
The San Antonio Spurs look to finish the nine-game rodeo road trip in style when they wrap up the annual excursion against the Phoenix Suns on Friday. San Antonio is 6-2 on the trip to improve its NBA-best road mark to 22-7 and they resumed play after the All-Star break with back-to-back wins over the Los Angeles Clippers and Portland Trail Blazers despite the absence of All-Star point guard Tony Parker. Phoenix stands sixth in the Western Conference and is 18-9 at home.
Backup guard Patty Mills has been a force with Parker out and averaged 27 points against the Clippers and Trail Blazers to raise his average to 21 over the past seven games. "He’s doing what Tony usually does in taking over in that fourth quarter,” swingman Danny Green said, aware that Mills scored 29 fourth-quarter points in the two victories. The Suns are 11 games above .500 to equal a season best and have defeated the Denver Nuggets and Boston Celtics since play resumed.
TV: 9 p.m. ET, KENS (San Antonio), FSN Arizona (Phoenix)
ABOUT THE SPURS (40-15): Small forward Kawhi Leonard is expected to return to the lineup after missing the past 13 games due to a broken finger. Leonard was averaging 11.6 points, 6.1 rebounds and 1.7 steals prior to his injury and San Antonio also missed his ability to shut down opposing forwards. The Spurs got center Tiago Splitter (shin) back against Portland and veteran guard Manu Ginobili (hamstring) recently returned as well. Parker is sidelined with injuries to his shin, groin, hand and back.
ABOUT THE SUNS (32-21): Guard Gerald Green continues to excel as the fill-in starter with Eric Bledsoe (sidelined). Green is averaging 26 points over the last four games, including a career-best 36-point outing against Denver on Tuesday. Phoenix is 11-4 this season when Green scores 20 or more points and the journeyman is averaging 16.3 points in his 35 starts. Green has made multiple 3-pointers in five straight games and nine of the last 11.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. San Antonio is 2-0 against Phoenix this season and has won eight of the last nine meetings.
2. The Suns lead the league in fast-break points (18.7) and had a 30-8 edge in Wednesday’s victory over Boston.
3. The Spurs dealt G Nando de Colo to Toronto for F Austin Daye prior to Thursday’s trading deadline.