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Tonight’s Phoenix Suns game against the Utah Jazz represents the 15th time this season the team has played in back-to-back games. With the Jazz only 1/2 game ahead of Phoenix for home court advantage in the playoffs, the history of the back-to-backs this season could indicate how well the team will do.
Stefan Swiat wrote a blog about the Suns schedule and how the team felt about back-to-backs. Now that we’re heading into the home stretch of the season and have the majority of them behind us – while yet having some big games ahead of us – I thought I would take a look at some trends to see how we have fared. And maybe even find some trends to watch for.
In the 14 completed back-to-back games so far this season:
- Phoenix is 10-4 in the first game
- Phoenix is 6-8 in the last game
- The team scores an average of 109.3 points in the first game; they allow 104.7 points
- They average 104.9 points in the second game and allow 109.6
- Only two of the back-to-backs have been losses in both games
- Two of the back-to-backs have had a loss followed by a win
- The final back-to-back is against current Western Conference playoff teams – Denver at home on April 13 and Utah away on April 14
Tonight’s game represents the fourth time this season where Phoenix has played an away game and then a home game the following night. They are 3-0 in the second game in those situations – against Houston, Philadelphia and Denver) so fans should feel fairly good going into the game. However, both teams know what they are playing for tonight and Utah hasn’t played since Monday so they are well rested. The fact that these teams would be facing each other in the playoffs if they started today and the fact that both teams are especially strong at home should make it all the more interesting only increases the importance of this game.
What are your thoughts on back-to-backs this season and the way the Suns have played in them so far?
