The Brooklyn Nets travel to Arizona to face the Phoenix Suns at Footprint Center on Tuesday.

The Nets (30-21) are in their worst stretch of the season, entering this matchup losing four straight. The losing ways have lasted much longer than that though, with Brooklyn maintaining a 6-11 record over their last 17 games. That has dropped them from the top spot in the Eastern Conference, sitting sixth at this point. The good news is that they're only two games clear of first, and a small winning streak could bump them right back to that spot. This poor stretch directly correlates with a knee injury to Kevin Durant, and it's becoming clear just how much the NBA's leading scorer means to this team. That's even worse with James Harden dealing with a hand injury and Kyrie Irving missing home games, forcing this team to battle more adversity than almost any other team in the NBA.

The Suns (40-9) come into this matchup amid a 10-game winning streak. That's actually their second double-digit winning streak of the season, now sitting with the best record in the NBA. They're actually a few games clear of anyone else, and it's hard not to say that this is the best team around. While they did struggle against a shorthanded San Antonio Spurs team on Sunday, they overcame a fourth-quarter 12-point deficit to complete their comeback win. Performances like that have been common for Phoenix all year, and it feels like they're never out of any game. Getting 20 points, eight rebounds and 19 assists from Chris Paul will give you that sort of confidence, and he's undoubtedly in the MVP hunt after yet another magical performance.

These teams played back on November 27, with Phoenix prevailing, 113-107. With that said, the Nets won 15 of their previous 19 games over the Suns in this series, dating back to 2012.