As much as this game appears to be a mismatch, the San Antonio Spurs were just made very aware they can't take any team lightly and the Phoenix Suns just showed they still have a chance to beat anyone.
Still, Phoenix winning in San Antonio on Wednesday night would be arguably the biggest stunner of the season.
Whereas the Spurs have won a franchise-record 27 consecutive home games and have lost once in their last 10 overall, the beleaguered Suns have dropped five straight and are missing their top scorer.
The Spurs (27-6) have won all four meetings in 2015, holding the usually high-scoring Suns to an average of 86 points. San Antonio is allowing a league-low 88.8 per game this season, and Phoenix (12-21) is surrendering an average of 105.2 and an NBA-worst 46.8 percent shooting.
However, the Spurs know all the numbers don't matter if they have the same mindset they did Monday, when they trailed by as many as 12 points and struggled to beat Minnesota 101-95.
"I thought we came out and didn't respect them the way they're supposed to be respected as a pro team," said forward David West, who looked ahead to the Suns game seeing the need for a better effort.
"... It's the same sorta deal, younger team with a bunch of athletes. We're just gonna have to be more sound and more solid than we were tonight."
While the Timberwolves had lost 20 of their previous 21 visits to San Antonio, the Suns have won only once in their last 11 there.
"Phoenix is a very dangerous team just like Minnesota," guard Danny Green said. "Any given night in this league you can lose if you're not on top of your game."
Monday's victory made San Antonio the third West team to open 18-0 at home, joining the 1985-86 Houston Rockets and the 1977-78 Portland Trail Blazers.
Little-used rookie Boban Marjanovic excited the crowd with 17 points, hitting all seven of his field-goal attempts.
''Yeah, it's amazing. The fans are amazing,'' the 7-foot-3 center said. ''Tonight - every night - but tonight they really gave us support. It was like six players on the court."
San Antonio hasn't dropped a regular-season home game since a March 12 overtime loss to Cleveland, the same team Phoenix just gave a scare.
Brandon Knight's 3-pointer with 1:28 left put the Suns within one point, but the Eastern Conference leaders emerged with a 101-97 road victory.
''We came out and fought the game all the way down to the last minute,'' Knight said. ''So I think we put ourselves in a position to win or at least try to win."
It was Phoenix's first game since learning Eric Bledsoe had a torn meniscus, and the team announced Tuesday that he would miss the remainder of the season following surgery. Devin Booker had 10 points starting in his place, and T.J. Warren scored 23 to lead five Suns in double figures.
"It's encouraging that we're without Eric, we're out there a lot of time with Alex (Len) and Devin and T.J., some of our young guys - that's a good effort," coach Jeff Hornacek said. "You can't fault that."
Bledsoe also missed the only matchup with the Spurs this season, a 98-84 road loss Nov. 23 when the Suns committed a season-high 28 turnovers.
Maybe the only reason the game wasn't a total blowout was Markieff Morris scoring a season-high 28 points. It's unclear if Morris will play Wednesday despite completing a two-game suspension for throwing a towel at Hornacek, with reports surfacing that he must apologize to the team if he wants to return.
He's long been rumored to be unhappy with the Suns and asked to be traded.
