Phoenix and Toronto are both out of realistic playoff reach, so the question becomes who can still summon the will to make the other look worse. No favorite in the model here — an honest call for a meeting between two teams whose seasons have long since stopped being about standings.
Phoenix's recent form has been a string of could-haves — losses to Washington and Atlanta, a close one against Portland, and a breakthrough win over Los Angeles that showed the ceiling. Toronto's is quieter: a solid win over Portland surrounded by losses to Las Vegas, Washington, Indiana, and Dallas, with the offense going missing in too many stretches.
The head-to-head series is split, and Phoenix won the last meeting. The line for this one runs through the fourth quarter: both teams leak points, so the winner will be the one that gets one stop, one rebound, one half-decent look when the game tightens.
