PREVIEW: The Lakers (34-23) are back on the road for the next two games, starting on Thursday when they play against the Phoenix Suns (33-26). The Lakers are sitting in sixth place and just three games above the play-in category, specifically where their next opponent, the Suns, are currently slotted. After an embarrassing loss to the Celtics, the Lakers lost to an Orlando Magic team without arguably its best player in Franz Wagner and their top perimeter defender in Jalen Suggs. It will help that the Suns' best players, namely Devin Booker and Dillon Brooks, are ruled out for this one. The 115.6 points per game the Lakers average are just 4.2 more points than the Suns allow, and when Los Angeles puts up more than 111.4 points, it is 26-7-1 against the spread and 30-4 overall. This season, the Lakers have a 49.8 percent shooting percentage from the field, which is 2.9 percent higher than the 46.9 percent of shots the Suns' opponents have knocked down. The Suns will most likely run their offense through Jalen Green, Collin Gillespie, Grayson Allen and Mark Williams. However, neither team currently has ShotQuality data available, limiting the ability to assess offensive efficiency beyond traditional shooting percentages.