The Los Angeles Lakers play host to the Phoenix Suns at Staples Center on Friday.

The Suns (0-1) were one of the biggest surprises of the 2020-21 season, but many people said it was a fluke. If the first game of this season is any indicator, they might have been correct. The Suns actually led by 16 points in the second quarter against the Denver Nuggets, but they collapsed in the second half and allowed the Nugs to complete a 27-point turnaround in that opener. Devin Booker really let them down in that game, tallying 12 points on 3-of-15 from the field. This team simply won't get it done unless he's dropping his usual 25, and there are even more question marks regarding Deandre Ayton's contract extension or lack thereof. The last thing you want to do to a successful team is throw in variables outside of basketball, and it remains to be seen if this contractual issue ends up hurting this team in the long run.

The Lakers (0-1) had a challenging task in the opener and could not prevail against the Golden State Warriors. It was actually the first time this club has lost with Anthony Davis and LeBron James scoring 30-plus apiece, but it's hard to win when no one else does anything. They actually had no other player reach double figures in scoring, with Russell Westbrook collecting eight points, five rebounds, and four assists in his debut. That's one of the worst performances of his storied career, and it has fans wondering if this thing can work with all of these studs playing together. In any case, they have way too much talent, and they should be just fine going forward.

Phoenix won two of their three games over Los Angeles last season, with all three games being decided by 10 points or more. Before that, the Lakers won 10 of their previous 12 games over the Suns in this series.