Preview: Suns Have to Handle Business vs Pacers

The Phoenix Suns enter tonight's matchup against the Indiana Pacers as sizable favorites, and rightfully so.

The 38-27 Suns have won their last five-of-six games while the 15-50 Pacers have lost their last ten games in a row.

ESPN's basketball power index is giving Phoenix a 70% win probability tonight, and this is a game the Suns can't afford to overlook as the regular season begins to wind down.

Suns Have Must-Win Opportunity vs Pacers

Obviously, every game as the season begins to wind down grows with importance. The Suns would love to win every game, though that's just not how professional sports work.

With that said, an extremely undermanned Pacers team is liable to be blown out.

While Tyrese Haliburton has been sidelined for the entire season with his torn ACL, Pascal Siakam (right knee sprain) is doubtful.

Additionally, all of the following Pacers are questionable entering tonight:

• Ivica Zubac (left ankle sprain)
• T.J. McConnell (right hamstring soreness)
• Andrew Nembhard (low back and neck soreness)
• Aaron Nesmith (right ankle injury management)

It's not as if the Suns aren't down players, either. Mark Williams (left foot third metatarsal stress reaction) and Dillon Brooks (left hand fracture) are still out while Jordan Goodwin (left calf strain) and Grayson Allen (right knee injury management) were questionable as of this morning.

However, Phoenix's roster even without the aforementioned names should be able to handle business.

The Pacers are a bottom five-team in points scored for and against this season while being dead last in offensive rating. They do rank eighth in pace, so watch for Indiana to try and push the tempo tonight.

That's a contrast to the Suns, who like to slow things down and get into halfcourt settings. However, both the Pacers and Suns rank in the bottom five of total field goal percentage.

Phoenix has the math advantage when it comes to the three-ball, and after hitting a team-high 24 three-point attempts, hopefully that can carry over into Pacers territory.

"I think from tip to the very last piece, our ball movement. When the ball moves like that, it's just going to find energy," Suns coach Jordan Ott said after defeating the Milwaukee Bucks.

Phoenix is in a tight race within the Western Conference standings, as they'll need to make up a deficit of multiple games to leapfrog the Denver Nuggets and jump into the sixth seed.

With a depleted Pacers team, the Suns need to take advantage of the opportunity ahead of them.