Preview: Suns Conclude Preseason vs Lakers

The Phoenix Suns will play their final ramp-up game ahead of the regular season tonight.

Oct 13, 2024; Denver, Colorado, USA; Denver Nuggets guard Jamal Murray (27) catches a pass against Phoenix Suns forward Ryan Dunn (0) in the second quarter at Ball Arena. Mandatory Credit: Isaiah J. Downing-Imagn Images / Isaiah J. Downing-Imagn Images

PHOENIX -- The Phoenix Suns (3-1) are set to finish up the five-game preseason slate tonight against the Los Angeles Lakers (1-3) at Footprint Center ahead of the beginning of the regular season.

The Suns are coming off of a spirited effort on Sunday night in which a reserve-heavy lineup outpaced a Denver Nuggets squad that gave the starters substantial minuted.

This is now the final chance the starting lineup will presumably have to share the floor prior to the October 23 season opener against the Los Angeles Clippers.

Three things to watch tonight:

Nurkic Debut

Tonight is set to be the first appearance of the new league year for starting C Jusuf Nurkic - who has missed about the last two weeks due to a middle finger injury suffered in training camp.

Nurkic now will look bring his noticeably slimmed down build and potential improvements as a floor-spacer to the floor, along with trying to build chemistry with the pair of fresh PG acquisitions.

One of the most intriguing things to watch tonight will be to see if Tyus Jones and/or Monte Morris can put Nurkic in better positions to finish compared to what was in place last season - along with the aforementioned potential as a deep-range shooter.

Ramp Up to Regular Season

This is the second time the two teams will have met in the preseason.

That is before the two divisional rivals play twice in the first week of the 82-game season - and another time by the end of November.

It is abundantly clear that the league wants to get in as many Kevin Durant-LeBron James matchups as possible in the infant stages of the season - and the preseason matchups now will serve as something of an ultimate build-up to a matchup that is typically highly anticipated on a year-to-year basis.

Player to Watch: Frank Kaminsky

Kaminsky became the presumed 15th member of the roster once he was signed in late September. That was backed up just a few days ago with the release of Moses Wood and Mamadi Diakite.

Still, Kaminsky not only has one last chance to solidify his status as a member of the team without a shadow of doubt - he also has a chance to potentially play his way into minutes early in the season while head coach Mike Budenholzer works on perfecting rotations.

The Wisconsin product and fan favorite in Phoenix has shown flashes of improving since his stint in Phoenix from 2019-22, but it is still up in the air if he can be anything other than a depth piece for this team.

Tonight is the perfect stage for the 7-footer to put on a show.

The game is set to tip-off shortly after 7 P.M. tonight and will be broadcast nationally on TNT.