The winless Los Angeles Lakers host the Phoenix Suns on Tuesday night at Staples Center.
Playing their third home game of the young season, the 0-4 Lakers have already achieved a record of the dubious variety: worst start in the history of the franchise since moving to LA. That, however, remains in the past. The Lakers look to claim their first victory against the pacey Suns on Tuesday.
Both teams enter the evening affair well-rested, as the Suns and Lakers both have not played a game since Saturday. The Lakers lost to the Golden State Warriors by 23 points on the second night of back-to-back. Not to be outdone, the Suns lost to the Utah Jazz by 27 points on the second night of their back-to-back.
So far in this young season, the Suns have been unable to properly feature 2014 NBA Most Improved Player Goran Dragic. Through three games, Dragic is averaging 12.7 points and 1.3 assists per game. Those numbers are sharp declines from the 20.3 points and 5.9 assists Dragic averaged during the 2013-14 season.
That decline is due to the Suns adding Isaiah Thomas in the offseason. Despite coming off the bench, Thomas is averaging 18.7 points and 3.0 assists per game. Also, the Suns still have Eric Bledsoe, who has started the season averaging 12.7 points and 6.7 assists per game.
With this trio of guards leading the way, the Lakers will have to improve their transition defense, a point of concern early in the season.
When these two teams met in the Lakers’ second game of the season, the Suns particularly took advantage from beyond the three-point line. Phoenix hit 13 of 18 shots from beyond the arc, which grossly outmatched the Lakers’ four of 13 figures from distance.
In that department, the Lakers received a boost on Tuesday morning, when Ryan Kelly was passed fit for the purple and gold. Kelly missed training camp and the early part of the season due to hamstring injuries in both legs, but after completing practice and shootaround on Monday and Tuesday, the Lakers' power forward appears set to feature in a bench role on Tuesday night.
"The one thing about Ryan is that he has a high basketball IQ," Lakers' coach Byron Scott said on Tuesday morning. "He understand what we're doing by just sitting there and watching, so the few times that he's had a chance to practice, he really hasn't missed a whole lot as far as what we’re doing on both ends of the floor."
With Kelly providing a deep threat at a forward position, the Lakers can use the 6-foot 11-inch shooter to spread the floor and provide quality looks from distance. Also, Kelly's mobility should prove to be an asset for the Lakers' second unit struggling to create offense.
"He brings a different element as far as the fact that he can stretch the floor--he's a stretch floor," Scott said. "That’s something that we don’t have (without Kelly)."
Scott emphasized that he was happy that the team had been improving but added the team had been "not good enough." On Tuesday, Scott will hope the Lakers continue to show improvement to the point that the Lakers finally win a game.
