The San Antonio Spurs travel to Arizona to face the Phoenix Suns at Talking Stick Resort Arena on Monday.

The Spurs (18-23) just suffered a devastating loss on Saturday, being beaten at home by a 10-win Atlanta Hawks team. That says a lot about the season for the Spurs, having one of their worst years in the Greg Popovich era. That has them in contention to miss the postseason for the first time in two decades and it's really hard to understand why they've fallen so far. One of the major issues has been their defense, ranked 26th in points allowed. That's an unacceptable mark from a team who usually thrives off of their defense and it's clear that things aren't clicking on that end of the floor. DeMar DeRozan is doing all he can though, averaging 27.3 points, 5.4 rebounds and 6.2 assists on 64 percent shooting over his last 12 games played. As long as he keeps doing that, this club should battle for that final playoff spot in the west.

The Suns (18-24) come into this matchup winning four of their last five games. While most of it came against weak competition, a road win against the Boston Celtics in their most recent outing is definitely an encouraging win. DeAndre Ayton was re-inserted into the starting lineup in the midst of this successful stretch and his play has fans wondering why he was coming off the bench at all. The big man has 52 points and 36 rebounds combined over the last two games played and that shows the sort of potential that this former number-one pick has. If he can do that with Devin Booker and Ricky Rubio running the backcourt, they too could contend for that final playoff spot in the west.

San Antonio won the first meeting between these teams in overtime, 121-119, on December 14. That gave the Spurs their 17th win in their last 19 games against the Suns.