Suns at Nets
The Phoenix Suns and the Brooklyn Nets are two of three teams that are already mathematically eliminated from postseason contention, but at least one of them is still playing hard. The Nets will try to carry the momentum from a last-second win to Thursday when they host the slumping Suns.
Brooklyn's draft pick will go to the Boston Celtics in June, so tanking for lottery balls isn't in the cards for the franchise as it tries to secure as many wins as possible down the stretch. The Nets are winners of three of their last six contests - their best six-game stretch of the season - and knocked off the playoff-hopeful Detroit Pistons 98-96 on Tuesday when Brook Lopez knocked down a jumper at the buzzer. Phoenix made its intentions clear when it decided to bench veterans Tyson Chandler and Brandon Knight after the All-Star break, and then followed suit with leading scorer Eric Bledsoe, and are losers of five in a row as the youngsters on the roster take their lumps. The Suns dropped to 9-26 on the road an 0-2 on the current six-game trip with a 112-97 loss at Miami on Tuesday.
TV: 7:30 p.m. ET, FSN Arizona (Phoenix), YES (Brooklyn)
ABOUT THE SUNS (22-49): Phoenix is just looking for encouraging performances from its young players and got one in Tuesday's loss from rookie power forward Marquese Chriss, who scored 24 points on 7-of-9 shooting - 2-of-2 from 3-point range - and grabbed seven rebounds. The 19-year-old reached the 20-point plateau for the third time this season and is averaging 17.5 points over the last four games. Rookie point guard Tyler Ulis is averaging 41 minutes over the last four games with Bledsoe on the sidelines and is posting 14.5 points and 9.5 assists in that span.
ABOUT THE NETS (14-56): Lopez is the unquestioned leader of the team and is trying to keep his young teammates focused through the end of a lost season. "The constant theme and motif for the remainder of the season is to keep playing through and not quit and have no slippage," Lopez told reporters. "We want to build a foundation and get things right so we’re confident going into next season." The veteran center is backing up those words by scoring at least 23 points in each of the last six games, including 29 on 13-of-24 shooting in Tuesday's triumph.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Nets PG Jeremy Lin (ankle) sat out Tuesday and is day-to-day.
2. Suns PF Alan Williams, who recorded a double-double in eight of his last 10 games, sat out due to an illness on Tuesday and is questionable for Thursday.
3. Brooklyn earned 122-104 win at Phoenix on Nov. 12.