NBA Game Preview - LA Clippers at Phoenix

Thu Mar 30, 2017 10:00 PM EDT

For the first time since his record-breaking scoring performance, Devin Booker will get an opportunity to be greeted by his home fans Thursday night when the Phoenix Suns host the Los Angeles Clippers.

Booker became the youngest NBA player to score 60 points, and the youngest in Suns history to reach 40, when he poured in 70 points last Friday at Boston.

The 20-year-old became just the sixth player in NBA history to score 70. He joined Wilt Chamberlain, Kobe Bryant, David Thompson, David Robinson and Elgin Baylor in that distinction.

Unfortunately for the Suns, the explosion came in a loss -- one of six straight the club endured on its just completed Eastern swing.

Overall, the Suns (22-53) take a nine-game losing streak into Thursday's game.

"Honestly, it's just time for us to get home," Suns coach Earl Watson said Tuesday after a loss at Atlanta. "With our roster situation, we need to be at home, have our fans give us that extra energy, and it can help carry us and give us better endings in games."

Since the Suns last saw the Clippers, Phoenix shut down Eric Bledsoe and Tyson Chandler for the season, creating the so-called "roster situation."

The Suns might need more than just Watson's hoped-for better ending against the Clippers, who have won the first three meetings this season by an average of 13 points. Los Angeles has beaten Phoenix in 12 of the past 14 head-to-heads.

The game is also more important to the Clippers (45-31), who find themselves in a tight three-team battle for the fourth, fifth and sixth playoff spots in the West.

Utah (46-29) currently resides in fourth, the only spot among the three that will have home-court advantage in the first round of the playoffs. Utah leads Los Angeles by 1 1/2 games and Oklahoma City (43-31) by 2 1/2.

They didn't set any records, but the Clippers put up a bunch of impressive numbers Wednesday in a 133-124 home win over Washington.

J.J. Redick led the way with a season-best 31 points, while Chris Paul (27 points, 13 assists), Blake Griffin (26 points, 10 rebounds) and DeAndre Jordan (23 points, 18 rebounds) all recorded double-doubles.

Paul, who had in-season thumb surgery, has missed two of the first three meetings with the Suns this year. Griffin, who was sidelined due to knee surgery, had to sit out one.

All the key players are healthy now, with the possible exception of key reserve Austin Rivers, who had to leave the Wednesday win in the second quarter with a hamstring injury. He is unlikely to play against the Suns.

Despite having high-powered potential, the Clippers have alternated wins and losses in their past five games, with three wins interspersed by losses to lightweights Dallas and Sacramento.

"I'm not worried about us when we play in the playoffs being ready and playing hard," Clippers coach Doc Rivers said before Wednesday's game. "But I still am concerned about consistency. Can you fix it? I don't know. We'll see."

The Clippers will be playing the second night of a back-to-back for the 13th time Thursday night. They went just 3-9 in their first dozen second-night affairs.