The Phoenix Suns will play their second and final preseason game of the 2011-12 NBA season on Thursday night at U.S. Airways Center in Phoenix, AZ. The game tips at 7:00 p.m. and will not be broadcast on TV although Al McCoy, as he's done since 1972, will have the radio call on 620am. The Suns will face the Denver Nuggets who defeated the Suns 127-110 on Tuesday to open the preseason.
Phoenix Suns injury and line up report:
The Phoenix Suns will likely start small forward Grant Hill who missed the preseason opener due to a sore knee. The starters and regular rotation players could play a little longer than in the first game in Denver.
Robin Lopez will start Thursday night in place of center Marcin Gortat who suffered a broken bone in his right thumb on Tuesday. Gortat insists that he will be ready to play in the Suns opener on December 26 against the New Orleans Hornets but his coach said that decision depend on what the doctors say.
The rest of the starting line up should be the same with Steve Nash, Channing Frye and Jared Dudley taking the floor.
Coaches Notes from Alvin Gentry:
Gentry was displeased with the 60 points in the paint his team allowed in the first game against Denver and put a lot of emphasis on the 16 turnovers and 17 offensive rebounds allowed. Another point of focus was making sure the weak side player on offense knows to get back as soon as shot goes up. The Suns transition defense was fooled Tuesday night by the Denver player who would sprint into the front court as soon as they contested a Suns perimeter shot.
"We spent a lot more time, I know it's hard to believe, but we spent a lot more time defensively trying to get things in order and we've got to try and find a way to get better at that," Gentry said Thursday morning.
Bright Side of the Sun blog will have a live game thread for the game.
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