Fresh off a Sunday beatdown of the 3-18 New Orleans Pelicans that wasn’t as close as its 133-121 final score appeared (the Lakers were up by as much as 26 points, while New Orleans never led), the 15-4 Los Angeles Lakers will put their seven-game win streak to the test on Monday night against the rising Phoenix Suns (12-9), losers of two in a row.

LA’s 21-time All-NBA superstar forward LeBron James sat out Sunday’s clash, but is off the team’s injury report heading into Monday.

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Three-time All-Defensive guard Marcus Smart, however, is not quite so lucky, and he will sit for the second consecutive clash.

Here are our expert predictions.

Which Lakers Player Will Step Up As A Scorer?

Alex Kirschenbaum: Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves, the top scoring tandem in the entire NBA, will be able to get their buckets. Sans an injured LeBron James on Sunday, center Deandre Ayton had a big night, scoring 22 points on 7-of-9 shooting from the field and 8-of-8 shooting from the charity stripe, plus chipping in 12 rebounds, four blocks and an assist. James will be back on Monday, so he’ll likely be up there with Doncic and Reaves in terms of touches and field goal tries.

As far as which role player outside of the top three will get cooking, look for Ayton to make mincemeat of his old team in the painted area, especially former almost-Laker Mark Williams, now Phoenix’s starting center. I’m projecting at least 18 points and 10 boards from the 7-footer out of Arizona.

Who Will Stop Devin Booker?

Alex Kirschenbaum: Booker is in the midst of what looks to be a fifth All-Star and possibly even a third All-NBA season for the surprisingly chippy Suns. Through 21 games, the 6-foot-5 Kentucky product has been averaging 25.7 points on .455/.311/.873 shooting splits, 6.9 assists and 4.4 boards, all while being the primary focal point of opposing defenses.

Phoenix has also looked far more connected than it did last season, despite the absence of 15-time All-Star forward Kevin Durant.

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Marcus Smart, LA’s top point-of-attack defender this year, is out with an injury. Forward Jarred Vanderbilt, another solid perimeter option, is no longer in head coach JJ Redick’s rotation. So it will fall to Gabe Vincent, to handle Booker, along with occasionally one of the starting perimeter pieces like Doncic or Reaves.

Whose Win Streak Will End on Monday Night?

Ricardo Sandoval: The Lakers are on a roll and should get their eighth consecutive win as they should have a healthy squad tonight. The Suns have played well to start the season, but the Lakers are simply the superior team. Lakers 122, Suns 110.

Alex Kirschenbaum: Phoenix has an athletic young backcourt that likes to push the pace — clearly this Lakers team’s big weakness. Head coach JJ Redick had Los Angeles’ star players logging big minutes deep into an obvious blowout. Fatigue will doom the Lakers in a narrow defeat. Suns 115, Lakers 108.

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