Who: Phoenix Suns (5-5) vs. Indiana Pacers (1-10)
When: 7:00pm Arizona Time
Where: Mortgage Matchup Center — Phoenix, Arizona
Watch: Arizona’s Family 3TV, Arizona’s Family Sports, NBATV
It’s the return of The Valley City Edition uniforms, that bold white font set against a pixelated sunset glow that once lit up the league. Thursday night, under the lights at home against the Indiana Pacers, it’s back. One of the most popular City Edition uniforms in the NBA, a modern relic from the season when belief and energy collided, when the Suns caught the world off guard and crashed the Finals party.
When you think of The Valley, you think of that 2020-21 team. Young, confident, overachieving, and hungry in a way you could feel through the screen. They weren’t supposed to be there, but they were. And those jerseys? They became the armor for a movement.
Fast-forward to now, and there’s a similar hum in the air.
Through 12 games, this year’s team sits at 7-5, scrappy and stubborn, exceeding expectations before anyone even decided what those expectations were. The national media doesn’t know what to make of them yet, but that’s fine. They’re annoying in the best way. They hang around. They punch back. They remind you of that 2020–21 team that wore these same threads for the first time and made people believe in something again.
So Thursday night, as the Eastern Conference champs roll into town, there’s poetry in the air. The Pacers are limping through injuries, trying to hold themselves together after falling short in last year’s Finals. The Suns have no reason to show mercy. It’s another test, another chance to prove that attitude still matters in this league.
The jerseys are back. The vibe is back. And if history has any rhythm, the spark that once set this city on fire might flicker again.
- Jalen Green — OUT (Right Hamstring Strain)
- Mark Williams — OUT (Right Knee Return from Injury Management)
- Johnny Furphy — OUT (Left Ankle Sprain)
- Tyrese Haliburton— OUT (Right Achilles Tendon)
- Quentin Jackson — OUT (Right Hamstring Strain)
- Bennedict Mathurin — OUT (Right Great Toe)
- Obi Toppin — OUT (Right Foot Stress Fracture)
It’s been a year from hell for the Indiana Pacers. You don’t even need to dig deep. Just look at the injury report. It reads like a casualty list from a team that made a deep Finals run. Key contributors are banged up, sidelined, or playing through pain.
For a team that thrives on pace, sitting ninth in the league in tempo, they’ve been sputtering where it counts most. Dead last in three-point shooting. Dead last in dunks. That’s right, on consecutive nights the Suns are facing another team that can’t shoot from deep and is being held together by tape and hope.
So the question tonight isn’t about who the Pacers are. It’s about how the Suns respond.
It’s the second night of a back-to-back, and those can test even the deepest teams. But this group is younger, fresher, built to handle this kind of grind in a way previous Suns squads weren’t.
How will Jordan Ott manage his rotations? Can they jump out early and control the game? Maybe we see the rookies get some meaningful minutes if things go well. And yes, Mark Williams is out. So I assume that Oso will get the start to ensure Nick Richards stays in his current rotational pattern. But if there were ever a night to see some Maluach…
I come back to the battle cry from Monday night: don’t let the wounded dog bite.
The Pacers are limping through it right now in every possible way. The joy they rode to the NBA Finals a season ago has evaporated, replaced with frustration and fatigue. Injuries have gutted them, and the young guys left standing are fighting uphill with dull blades. Their depth has vanished.
So the Suns have one job tonight. Do what they did to New Orleans. Find the lineup that locks in, then crush the Pacers.
One thing this team has done well so far is hold a lead once they have it. That’s been a refreshing change. For years, it felt like every 20-point cushion could disappear in the time it takes to microwave popcorn. That’s life in the era of the three-ball. No lead feels safe, because everyone’s always one hot streak away from catching you.
But this group? They’ve learned how to step on a throat and keep it there. Apply pressure. Cut off air. Make opponents fold before the fourth quarter even starts. That’s the task again tonight. Don’t let Indiana breathe.
The Suns keep playing within the confines of who they are, and when they do that, they win.
