Jazz at Suns
The Phoenix Suns have lost five straight games to fall out of the race for a playoff spot and now are in danger of falling below .500. The Suns will try to avoid a losing record when they host the Utah Jazz on Saturday.
The Jazz are familiar with being out of the race in the Western Conference but are playing hard to the end of the season as they build for the future and are back to playing staunch defense during a three-game winning streak. The Suns are watching their season fall apart in crushing fashion and will be trying to bounce back after a last-second loss at Golden State on Thursday. Phoenix battled the best team in the NBA all the way to the end and grabbed the lead on Eric Bledsoe’s reverse layup with 4.5 seconds to play before giving up a game-winning basket at the other end. The Suns are making a brief stop at home before hitting the road for four in a row.
TV: 10 p.m. ET, ROOT (Utah), FSN Arizona (Phoenix)
ABOUT THE JAZZ (34-41): Utah allowed 100 points once in a stretch of 13 games following the All-Star break but went through a rough patch while surrendering 102.8 during a four-game slide. The Jazz found their form again on that end while holding the last three opponents to fewer than 90 points and center Rudy Gobert continued his remarkable rise with his sixth straight double-double in a 98-84 win over Denver on Wednesday. “People are clearly captivated by him because we talk about him a lot, and deservedly so,” coach Quin Snyder told reporters of Gobert. “I think he’s a little bit further along offensively than people realize, and that’s because he’s worked at it.”
ABOUT THE SUNS (38-38): Phoenix had been above .500 every day since winning at Washington to improve to 15-14 on Dec. 21 before falling at the last second on Thursday. The Suns could not get the rebound they needed or the defensive stop down the stretch in Golden State and have allowed an average of 108.3 points in their last three games. “It's kind of the way our season has gone this year,” Phoenix coach Jeff Hornacek told reporters. “We made some plays but we just couldn't get a stop there. … These guys are in the locker room going, 'It doesn't surprise me.' It's happened like, five, six times this year where we lose on a last-second shot.”
BUZZER BEATERS
1. The Suns snapped a three-game losing streak in the series with a 100-93 home win on Feb. 6.
2. Gobert went 7-of-7 from the field on Wednesday and has hit at least 50 percent of his shots in each of the last six games.
3. Phoenix C Alex Len (broken nose) is unlikely to play and G Brandon Knight (heel) is questionable.