San Antonio Spurs bring an eight-game winning streak to Phoenix Suns at Mortgage Matchup Center on Monday night US time, a game that tips off in the early hours of Tuesday morning in the UK, with a Spurs side ranked second in the West facing one of the weakest defences in the conference.
The Spurs lost their first two games of the season to Oklahoma City and Houston before turning that start around, while the Suns are 3-5 and sit 12th in the Western Conference standings, having only just won two games in a row for the first time this season.
San Antonio Spurs vs. Phoenix Suns form and outlook
San Antonio's streak has come with a wide margin, as they won by double digits in four of the five games that make up their recent run.
The one close call was a 112-111 win over Dallas, and the Spurs then won at Sacramento and Portland on consecutive nights, with Victor Wembanyama playing only 24 minutes in a 22-point win at the Moda Center.
Phoenix's recent form is flatter, with three straight defeats giving way to a 13-point win over Orlando and a three-point win over Houston, in which Devin Booker scored the last nine points.
The season-long numbers show where the gap lies, as the Spurs' defensive rating is more than 12 points per 100 possessions better than Phoenix's.
The Suns do have strengths, since they shoot 47.2% from the floor against 45.6% for San Antonio and average a full assist more per game, which fits with the 29 they made against Houston.
Their problem is at the other end, where they sit near the bottom of the league for opponent shooting percentage and are out-rebounded by a wide margin.
San Antonio score 122.0 points per game on the road and have won all four away games, while Phoenix concede 116.8 per game at home.
Phoenix's own home games have been high-scoring, with 117.8 points per game for them and four of five clearing 220 combined, which keeps the total in play as well as the winner.
Who is missing for the Spurs and the Suns?
San Antonio are without Tobias Harris, who is out with a left calf strain, and Jayden Quaintance, who is out with a right knee problem, and neither has played this season.
In their absence Mitch Johnson has used De'Aaron Fox, Stephon Castle, Dylan Harper and Devin Vassell alongside Wembanyama, with the same five starting all nine games before the trip to Portland and Julian Champagnie and Keldon Johnson leading the forward options off the bench.
Phoenix are without Mark Williams, who has not played this season after shoulder surgery, and Jordan Goodwin missed the Houston game with a calf problem.
Booker, Jalen Green, Dillon Brooks and Miles Bridges form the core of the Suns' lineup under Jordan Ott, with Oso Ighodaro or Khaman Maluach at centre, and the Clippers visit Phoenix the following night.
San Antonio Spurs vs. Phoenix Suns, the matchups that could decide it
Wembanyama leads the league in blocks at 3.9 per game, and that matters against a Phoenix frontcourt in which Maluach and Ighodaro both shoot above 58% from the floor and score most of their points around the rim.
Neither centre plays heavy minutes, with Maluach at 19.6 per game and Ighodaro at 21.6, so Phoenix will rotate bigs through the game rather than commit one player to Wembanyama for 30 minutes.
In the backcourt, Booker is the only Suns player averaging more than 17 points, while San Antonio have five players at 11 or above, so Phoenix rely on one scorer and the Spurs can lose any one of theirs without a drop in output.
Which player props stand out for Spurs vs. Suns?
The three prop angles below lean on scoring and rebounding, the two areas where the Spurs' size and the Suns' defensive weaknesses produce the clearest gaps.
Spurs vs. Suns head-to-head record
The home side won all six meetings since November 2025, with the four regular-season games split two apiece and both October preseason games following the same pattern.
Phoenix won both of their home games last season, 130-118 and 111-102, while San Antonio took both of theirs, including a 101-100 win in March that was settled by a single point.
The Suns finished that campaign 45-37 and were swept by Oklahoma City in round one, while the Spurs won 62 games and reached the NBA Finals, so the gap between the sides has grown since those meetings.
San Antonio Spurs vs. Phoenix Suns prediction and tips
The Spurs are the pick to win outright, as they hold the edge in all the measures that decide possessions and have not lost since the second game of the season.
A San Antonio score near 122 fits their road scoring against Phoenix's home defence, a Suns total around 111 reflects their own scoring against the Spurs' defence, and a win would extend the streak to nine before Johnson's side travel to Chicago next on the NBA schedule.