What to look for in tonight's In-Season game between the Lakers & Phoenix Suns

Tonight there's no turning back, if the LA Lakers indeed want to be the first team to win the new NBA In-Season Tournament is to win or die, plus, the game counts for the record of the regular season.

One of the great things about the IST has been the playoff-level intensity we've seen in the games. The Lakers will need to step up to that level tonight if they want to advance to the next round.

The Lakers are finally (mostly) healthy, which means we can finally get a sense of what their wing depth can do. LA will need Jarred Vanderbilt, Cam Reddish, Rui Hachimura, Taurean Prince, and Max Christie to all have strong defensive performances to deal with Devin Booker and Kevin Durant.

LA will need to be careful now that Booker is back and teaming up with Kevin Durant, as in their previous game against the Grizzlies, Devin went to the free throw line 13 times while KD 7. Cam Reddish, Vando, and Rui need to stop both superstars if they want to get the win tonight.

Anthony Davis needs to give a great performance tonight

Anthony Davis has made life tough on Jusuf Nurkic in past meetings and needs to haunt his dreams once again. The Lakers are not a proficient three-point shooting team so they need to dominate the paint, and much of that will fall on Davis' shoulders. Look for LA, particularly D'Angelo Russell, to feed the ball to AD early and often.