NBA Picks 2/20 – Phoenix Suns @ San Antonio Spurs

NBA Picks 2/20 – Phoenix Suns @ San Antonio Spurs

The second half of the NBA season jumps off officially tonight as the Phoenix Suns (26-28) visit the San Antonio Spurs (23-29) at Moody Center in Austin, Texas, on TNT. This is third straight year that San Antonio will play select home games in Austin as opposed to San Antonio. The Spurs reasoning for playing in Austin is to “expand its business footprint” outside of San Antonio. They’ll also host the Detroit Pistons at Moody Center tomorrow night.

Tonight’s game is the second of three matchups between Phoenix and San Antonio. Phoenix knocked off the visiting Spurs 104-93 on Dec. 3. That Suns victory snapped a 4-game losing streak to the Spurs. San Antonio opened as a 2.5-point favorite but the line has seen a significant shift and Phoenix is now a 2.5-point favorite due to the status of Spurs superstar center Victor Wembanyama. San Antonio listed Wembanyama as doubtful on Wednesday night due to an illness. 

Phoenix enters the second half of the season reeling after dropping a 119-111 decision at Houston on Feb. 12. It was the Suns third straight loss and sixth in their last seven games. Phoenix entered the fourth quarter with an eight point lead but were outscored 35-19 to close out the game. Veteran superstar Kevin Durant scored a game-high 37 points (15-22 FG, 2-5 3Pt, 5-5 FT) and dished out a season-high nine assists in the loss. It was the 16th time that Durant scored 30 or more points this season.

San Antonio lost 116-103 at Boston in their final game before the All-Star break on Feb. 12. The loss concluded a six-game road trip that saw the Spurs go 2-4 with victories at Atlanta and Washington. Newly acquired guard De’Aaron Fox finished with a team-high of 23 points (10-16 FG, 1-3 3Pt, 2-3 FT), five assists and three rebounds in 39 minutes. Victor Wembanyama registered 17 points (7-16 FG, 1-6 3Pt, 2-2 FT), 13 rebounds, four assists and two blocks over 36 minutes.

NBA Picks 2/20 – Phoenix Suns @ San Antonio Spurs

Tonight’s game in Austin, Texas, will be somewhat of a homecoming for Suns superstar Kevin Durant. The 36-year-old Durant spent his lone college season (2006-07) in Austin playing for the University of Texas Longhorns. Durant had a stellar freshman season for the Longhorns where he averaged 25.8 points and 11.1 rebounds per game. He was a consensus first-team All-American and named the 2007 College Basketball Player of the Year by multiple outlets. He went on to become the second overall pick in the 2007 NBA draft by the Seattle Supersonics. 

GAME STORYLINES: PHOENIX

In June 2022, the Phoenix Suns appeared to be a team of the future after making it all the way to the NBA Finals with a relatively young group of players and veteran All-Star point guard Chris Paul. Unfortunately for Phoenix, the next three seasons brought a lot of misery instead of championships. Rumored team in-fighting and embarrassing playoff losses in the 2022 and 2023 seasons led to the firing of head coach Monty Williams and the Suns attempting to create a Big Three of Bradley Beal, Devin Booker and Kevin Durant. 

The Suns Big Three of Bradley Beal, Devin Booker and Kevin Durant are in their second full season playing together and its been a huge disappointment. They were swept by the upstart Minnesota Timberwolves in the first round of the playoffs last season and enter tonight’s game at just 26-28. Phoenix sits 2.5 games out of 10th place in the stacked Western Conference. It was rumored that Kevin Durant and/or Bradley Beal would be shipped off at the trade deadline but neither player was moved and the Suns are now in the dreaded position of not being good enough to compete a title but not necessarily bad enough to purposely tank games. 

NBA Picks 2/20 – Phoenix Suns @ San Antonio Spurs

Despite the disappointing season as a team, the duo of Kevin Durant and Devin Booker have been outstanding. The 36-year-old Durant is averaging a team-high 27.3 points, 6 rebounds, 4.2 assists, 1.4 blocks and 2.4 threes per game while shooting 53.2 percent from the floor and 40.4 percent from long distance through 41 games in year 18. Durant was selected to his 15th All-Star game this season. Booker is averaging 26.2 points, a team-high 6.7 assists, 4 rebounds, 1 steal and 2.6 threes while shooting 45.3 percent from the floor. He became the Suns all-time leading scorer on Feb. 3 at Portland.

Due to the constant injuries to the Big Three and the underwhelming record, the Suns have tinkered with their starting lineup and given more minutes to younger players such as forward Bol Bol (16 ppg, 7 rebs, 3.3 blks over his last 4 gms) and recently acquired center Nik Richards (8.8 ppg, 10 rebs, 1.1 blks, 57.3% from 2 in 14 gms with Suns). Bol was a highly-touted high school player — who was compared to current teammate Kevin Durant by some — but has had difficulty reaching his potential since leaving high school. Newly acquired point guard Vasilije Micic (7.5 ppg, 3.5 asts in 36 gms with Charlotte) could also receive lots of minutes when he returns from injury. He has yet to play for Phoenix due to an ankle injury. 

GAME STORYLINES: SAN ANTONIO

Two years ago, 7-foot-5 center Victor Wembanyama was one of the most hyped prospects in the history of the NBA draft. Every non-playoff team spent the entire 2022-23 season purposely losing games in order to secure the No. 1 overall pick and select Wembanyama. The San Antonio Spurs ended up getting the No. 1 overall pick in 2023 and they choose Wembanyama, who everyone projected as a franchise-changer. 

Victor Wembanyama has met and somewhat exceeded the enormous expectations placed upon him prior to his arrival in the NBA. As a rookie, Wembanyama averaged 21.4 points, 10.6 rebounds, 3.9 assists, 3.6 blocks, 1.8 threes and 1.2 steals per game while shooting 46.5 percent from the floor en route to being named the 2023-24 Rookie of the Year. Wembanyama has been even better in year two averaging 24.3 points, 11 rebounds, 3.7 assists, 3.8 blocks, 3.1 threes and 1.1 steals while shooting 47.6 percent from the floor through 46 games. He was selected as an All-Star this year.

Despite the magnificent rookie year from Victor Wembanyama, San Antonio still finished with a dismal 22-60 record — which was the exact same record they had in 2022-23 when they were tanking for Wembanyama. San Antonio made three key moves to surround Wembanyama with more talent. The first was drafting athletic UConn guard Stephon Castle fourth overall in the June draft. The second was signing 39-year-old, 9-time All-Star Chris Paul to a 1-year, $11 million contract in July. 

NBA Picks 2/20 – Phoenix Suns @ San Antonio Spurs

The 20-year-old rookie Stephon Castle is averaging 12.9 points, 3.5 assists and 2.8 rebounds per game across 51 contests. He was the MVP of the Rising Stars game during All-Star weekend as his team advanced to the All-Star Game tournament on Sunday. He also finished second in the All-Star Game’s dunk contest. He’s currently the heavy favorite (+250) to win the 2025 Rookie of the Year Award. The venerable Chris Paul is still an effective player in his 20th NBA season, he’s averaging 9.2 points, 8.1 assists, 1.3 steals and 1.7 threes per game through 52 contests. Paul has not missed a game this year. 

The biggest move the Spurs made was acquiring star point guard De’Aaron Fox from the Sacramento Kings in a three-way trade on Feb. 2. The speedy, 27-year-old Fox has established himself as one of the elite point guards in the NBA since the 2019-20 season — his third year in the NBA. His addition gives San Antonio a legitimate 1-2 superstar combo that can legitimately compete for NBA titles soon. Fox is averaging 21.6 points, 7.8 assists, 3.4 rebounds, 1.8 steals and 1.2 threes per game while shooting 50 percent from the floor in 5 games with San Antonio. 

THE PICK: SPURS (+2.5)

Phoenix looks to be in shambles with their underwhelming record and recurring injuries for their Big Three — Beal and Booker are questionable for tonight’s game. Even if Wembanyama does not play, I think the Spurs give an inspired effort on a nationally televised game in front of a “new” home crowd in Austin, Texas. Take the Points and the Spurs!