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Phoenix Suns head coach Jordan Ott did something different in the team’s 120-110 win over the Chicago Bulls on Sunday. Collin Gillespie and Royce O’Neale were not in the starting lineup. With the squad mostly at full strength, Phoenix went with Devin Booker, Jalen Green, Jordan Goodwin, Dillon Brooks, and Mark Williams, with O’Neale and Gillespie, who have started the first and third most games for the Suns this year, respectively, coming off the bench.

Along with starting the game with the second unit, both played fewer minutes than they usually do. The change comes after Phoenix suffered two straight losses, including a 20-point defeat to the Charlotte Hornets, which prompted Ott to say everything was “on the table” after the game.

It’s not a surprise O’Neale went to the bench. With Dillon Brooks returning, O’Neale and the starting power forward spot looked to be Brooks’ once he got up to speed after returning from his broken hand. O’Neale and Brooks have both started together this year, but not many games with Jalen Green and Devin Booker both healthy.

Collin Gillespie starting the game with the second unit is a noticeable change in tactics from the Suns. Goodwin replaced him in the starting lineup. They both played 24 minutes, but Phoenix deciding to go with the more physical, better defending Goodwin signals a change in approach. Gillespie has been struggling with his shot since the start of March. He’s shooting 37% from the field and 36% from three; both well below his season averages.

As the Suns continue to get closer to the end of the regular season. Rotations and lineups should continue to tighten up to build some continuity. The team played just nine guys on Sunday. After being integral parts of the rotation in March, rookies Rasheer Fleming and Khaman Maluach didn’t play at all in the team’s last game. For a squad that has not been uniformly healthy all year, it’s noteworthy that the team is shortening its rotation when everyone but Haywood Highsmith is active.

Often in the playoffs, teams shorten their rotations. Pat Riley’s famous quote, “use eight, rotate seven, play six and trust five,” is the strategy many squads deploy when a best-of-seven series begins.

The Suns have four games left and three against Western Conference teams who will be in the top-six of the playoff standings. Another nearly clean injury report tonight against the Houston Rockets, the Suns will continue to show their cards on how their rotations look heading into the play-in and potentially the playoffs.

If Gillespie and O’Neale continue to come off the bench, would you agree with the decision? Why or why not?

The Cleveland Cavaliers don’t have much to play for at this time of the season. They’ve secured home-court advantage in the first round of the playoffs and don’t have much of a chance of moving up from the fourth spot to the third with three games left in the season. As of now, that doesn’t seem like it’s going to deter the Cavs from trying to finish strong.

The Cavs could have their full complement of players for Wednesday’s game against the Atlanta Hawks, which could be a preview for their first-round matchup. Cleveland has no players on the injury report due to rest.

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That said, Donovan Mitchell could be missing the game with an ankle injury. He twisted his ankle late in the win over the Indiana Pacers on Sunday and sat out against the Memphis Grizzlies the following evening. After Sunday’s game, he told reporters that his ankle was fine and that it wasn’t even worth asking him about. We’ll see if he’s able to go on Wednesday.

The Cavs might be getting two key players back for Wednesday. Both Dean Wade (ankle) and Jaylon Tyson (toe) have been upgraded to questionable. Wade has missed the team’s last seven games. Tyson has been absent for the last nine.

Thomas Bryant will be missing this game with a calf strain.

Unlike the Cavs, the Hawks do have something to play for. Three and a half games separate spots five through 10 in the Eastern Conference standings. The Hawks are likely to get the fifth seed, given they’re a game and a half up on the Toronto Raptors, but there’s a chance that they could fall into the Play-In Tournament depending on how the final three games go.

As such, Atlanta won’t be resting any of their rotation players either. Jock Landale is the only player on a standard contract who will be missing Wednesday’s game.

The Lakers are down after the regular season-ending injuries to star guards Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves.

But they’re not out. 

Already having clinched a playoff spot before Doncic (Grade 2 left hamstring strain) and Reaves (Grade 2 left oblique strain) suffered their regular season-ending injuries during last Thursday’s blowout road loss to the Thunder, the Lakers are guaranteed to play beyond Sunday’s regular season finale against the Jazz.

How much further they’ll play beyond the first four games of their first-round playoff series, and whether they’ll extend the season to give Doncic and Reaves enough time to return to the floor in the postseason, will depend on several factors.

The main one being whether they can find the right formulas and game plans to win during life without their star guards.

“We have to be diligent on the offensive end with our screening and still want to just have a paint-touch mentality,” coach JJ Redick said ahead of Sunday’s loss to the Mavericks. “Got to put guys in a position to do that, but our screening’s going to be a big part of that, our effort offense as well. We’ll play lineups that haven’t played together probably all season. Got to crash, got to run.”

The loss to the Mavericks, in which they scored 128 points but allowed the Mavericks to score 134 points in their first home win in over two months, showed there’s progress for the Lakers to make.

And with LeBron James missing Tuesday’s home game against the Thunder because of left foot injury management, in addition to Marcus Smart sitting out of the matchup for his eighth consecutive missed game because of a right ankle contusion, significant progress won’t be able to be made until Thursday’s road game against the Warriors at the earliest. 

Here are the factors the Lakers need to hone in on to maximize the team without Doncic and Reaves

The possession battle

Doncic and Reaves combined to average 56.8 points, 13.8 assists and 6.3 made 3-pointers per game for the Lakers during the regular season.

There isn’t a player, or even a collection of a few players, who can replicate or replace the statistical production the team’s star duo produced on a nightly basis.

But what the Lakers can do is improve even more on the margins. 

The Lakers have been one of the league’s better teams this season at winning the possession battle, but they can be even better. 

Already one of the league’s best teams at getting to the free throw line, a strength of Doncic’s and Reaves’, and not allowing many offensive rebounds or opponent free throws, the biggest way they can give themselves more bites at apple is from better offensive rebounding.

This can be achieved by playing bigger lineups more often, which they did against the Mavericks when they used Maxi Kleber as the 4 alongside either Deandre Ayton or Jaxson Hayes.

They have an above-average offensive rebounding rate when Kleber and Hayes share the floor, and become an elite offensive rebounding team when Kleber and Ayton are on the court together.

Transition defense

Getting stops has been an up-and-down challenge for the Lakers.

And a depleted offense won’t make things easier defensively.

But the Lakers can help themselves by consistently getting back on defense with more urgency compared to how they did against the Mavericks.

Their 12 turnovers, a very low mark, weren’t the problem. But the 21 points they allowed off turnovers made it a game of catch up.

Slow down

The Lakers are going to need all of the easy points they can get. 

But they also need to be strategic with how often they push the ball up the floor in transition offensively.

James is a one-man fastbreak, third in the league in transition points per game. 

And they have multiple players besides James, including Hayes, Ayton, Jake LaRavia and Rui Hachimura, who thrive offensively when getting up and down the floor.

But without the proper ball-handlers to feed them, the Lakers need to be careful with how often they push.

Mistakes in transition not only would prevent them from having offensive rebounding opportunities, but will spread their defense thin.

An interesting piece of information got lost in the drama surrounding LeBron James saying he doesn’t like playing in Memphis.

Apparently, Cleveland is on that list, too.

It makes you wonder if James just gave us a clue about his future.

Let’s rewind.

In a recent appearance on “Bob Does Sports,” James talked about Milwaukee and Memphis as NBA road cities that he doesn’t enjoy visiting.

His comments about Memphis, in particular, sparked significant backlash. At Lakers practice on Saturday in Dallas, he was asked if he wanted to clarify them.

“I said Milwaukee as well,” James said. “I’m 41 years old, there’s two cities I do not like playing in right now. And that’s Milwaukee and that’s Memphis. What is your problem with it? I don’t like going home either, s–t, and I’m from there. People are ridiculous. They also get mad at my son being on the team, too. So, what are we talking about?”

For James, the uproar was much ado about nothing. He’s been doing this for an unprecedented 23 seasons. Is he not allowed to have preferences?

But while he shut down the reporter’s question, he raised another: Would James not want to return to Cleveland?

James, who’s earning $52.6 million this season with the Lakers, will become an unrestricted free agent this summer.

He remains uncertain about his future. He could retire or return for his 24th season — with the Lakers or elsewhere.

It’s hard to imagine him playing with any team at this stage in his career besides the Lakers (where he has spent the last eight seasons) and Cavaliers (where he played 11 seasons), though he has also been tied to the Warriors and Knicks.

But if he chooses to return — and doesn’t want to remain with the purple and gold — playing for the Cavaliers would wrap a bow around his storied career.

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James, who’s from Akron, Ohio, was drafted by the Cavaliers in 2003. He spent seven seasons with the team before leaving for Miami in 2010. After four years with the Heat, James returned to the Cavaliers in 2014, leading them to four straight Finals appearances, including their first championship in 2016.

Cleveland may not be one of James’ favorite road cities to pass through, but it clearly holds a very special place in his heart.

When the Lakers played there in January, James teared up during a video tribute.

He already chose to rejoin the franchise once. Maybe basketball decisions would supersede his newfound passion for year-round green golf courses.

After all, James would have a much easier path to the Finals with the Cavaliers than the Lakers in the very crowded West. If James teamed up with Donovan Mitchell, James Harden and Jarrett Allen, the Cavaliers would instantly become a title contender.

But the truth is, no one knows what James is going to do, including probably James himself.

At the top of the season, there was a lot of speculation about James returning to Cleveland, with multiple pundits claiming that was the most likely scenario for him next year if he chose not to retire. But that chatter died down after the Lakers found their stride in March, going on a 15-2 run.

James’ agent, Rich Paul, says all of that conjecture is nothing but hot air.

“There’s no truth to any of it,” Paul said on his podcast, “Game over with Max Kellerman and Rich Paul.” “First of all, I don’t know what’s happening. He don’t know either. We don’t even talk about it.”

James wants to see how he’s feeling after the season.

What happens in the playoffs will likely have a large influence on his future, which is unfortunate because the Lakers will be surrounded with “what ifs” after Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves both sustained injuries Thursday that will sideline them for the remainder of the regular season and likely the first round of the playoffs.

So, this is what we know.

When arguably the greatest player of all time makes his decision about his future, there will be a lot of factors at play.

A major one?

As James said, “I don’t like going home either.”

He might’ve been referring to the hotel he stays at in Cleveland. Or the cold weather. It’s hard to know how much to read into that and whether it’ll impact his decision.

But it was one of the biggest clues James’ fans received about what he may or may not do next season.