Suns Forced to Change Starting Lineup vs Lakers

The Phoenix Suns (12-9) are looking to avoid dropping three straight games for the first time since the opening week of the season when they face off against the red-hot Los Angeles Lakers (15-4) tonight.

Los Angeles has won seven games in a row and will only be without Marcus Smart (lower back injury management) against the Suns.

Phoenix got surprising injury news a short time ago that Grayson Allen will be out with an illness, joining Jalen Green (right hamstring strain) and Isaiah Livers (right hip strain) on the sidelines.

Ryan Dunn (right wrist sprain) will be making his return to the lineup after missing the past five games, and Mark Williams will also be back in the lineup after being out for Saturday's loss to Denver with left calf soreness.

With all of the injuries, here's who will start for Phoenix:

• Collin Gillespie
• Devin Booker
• Dillon Brooks
• Royce O'Neale
• Mark Williams

More on the Suns' Starting 5

Gillespie gets his third start of the year in place of Allen after averaging 22.5 points and 6.5 assists in his two starts so far, including a career-high 24 points in Friday's loss to Oklahoma City. Gillespie, who is averaging 12.7 points and 5.0 assists in total, has been one of the biggest surprises in the whole NBA this season and will now get to put it on display on national TV against the Lakers.

The Suns need Booker to snap out of his shooting struggles sooner rather than later, as he has failed to score 25 or more points seven games in a row and is 13-for-64 (20.3%) from 3 over the last 12 games.

"I just have to look for my opportunities and there’s a few times that I got some clean ones," Booker said after the loss to the Nuggets where he went 0-for-4 from deep. "Just back to the fundamentals like the first few threes that I had tonight. They were close, just have to keep shooting.”

As he does with a lot of players in the NBA, Brooks has some history with LeBron James, so expect some intensity with this matchup tonight. Brooks is in the midst of a career season in his first year with Phoenix, averaging 21.5 points and 1.7 steals.

After coming off the bench the first three games, O'Neale, who is also having a career year, will be getting his 18th start in the past 19 games following a 15-point performance against the Nuggets, and his shooting will be a huge factor in how well the Suns do tonight.

Williams said today that he will have a "little extra" against the Lakers after they nixed a trade last season for him because of his injury history (via The Arizona Republic's Duane Rankin). At times, it can be night and day for Phoenix when Williams is on or off the court because of his paint presence on both sides of the ball, so the Suns will be happy to have him back tonight.

Tip-off is slated for 8:00 p.m. MST on Peacock.

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