AUSTIN – The Phoenix Suns were full strength coming out of the NBA All-Star break until the morning shootaround on Thursday, Feb. 19.
Grayson Allen sprained his right ankle during shootaround and has been ruled out against the San Antonio Spurs after the Suns added him to the injury report before the game.
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“Just happened,” Suns coach Jordan Ott said pregame. “Shootaround. Weird instances. Quick tweak. They tried it here (during) pregame. Not able to go.”
The 6:30 p.m. game will be televised on 3TV and Arizona’s Family Sports.
The Suns (32-23) are 2-0 versus the Spurs (38-16) this season.
Allen had missed Phoenix’s last three games with a right knee sprain, but he wasn’t on the team’s initial injury report released Feb. 18.
Ott said the Suns will know more Feb. 20 if the injury is serious enough for Allen to miss significant time.
Green back in starting lineup
Jalen Green will get the start Feb. 19 against the San Antonio Spurs after coming off the bench in his previous five games in returning from multiple injuries.
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“Everything feels good,” Green said after Thursday’s morning shootaround. “Probably the best I’ve felt all season.”
The Suns are starting Collin Gillespie, Devin Booker, Royce O’Neale, Mark Williams and Green as Dillon Brooks is serving his one-game suspension against the Spurs for racking up 16 technical fouls.
Green has played in just seven games in his first year with the Suns mostly due to a right hamstring injury.
He also missed three games after suffering a left hip contusion on Jan. 30 against Cleveland. Green returned for two games, but he sat out Feb. 11 against defending NBA champion Oklahoma City in the second of a back-to-back.
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Ott said the Suns were initially bringing him off the bench to monitor his minutes, saying Green needed to improve his conditioning before returning to the starting lineup.
Green spent the All-Star break working on his conditioning.
The question now becomes who will have to come off the bench when Brooks returns from his one-game suspension.
Highsmith ‘wants to play’
Haywood Highsmith (right knee injury management) is with the Suns on the short road trip as he went through a morning workout after shootaround.
Highsmith has yet to play this season after having surgery on his right knee last summer, but Ott hopes the 6-5 forward is able to return to action this season.
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“We’re excited to have him,” Ott said. “Right now, he just continues to go through more testing with our group. Similar to everyone else, when they come into our group, we’ll have a plan. Get him back out there.”
Highsmith underwent surgery in August to repair a meniscal tear in his right knee which he suffered while training in Baltimore.
The 6-5 forward was with the Miami Heat at the time and was expected to miss eight-to-10 weeks at the time.
The Heat traded Highsmith to the Brooklyn Nets, who later waived him before the Feb. 5 trade deadline. He didn’t play a single game for Brooklyn after averaging a career-high 6.5 points in 74 games (42 starts) in the 2024-25 season.
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“He wants to play,” Ott added. “Hasn’t played all year. We want to get him back out there, but we want him to be right.”
Anthony still ‘not with team’
The Suns continue to list Cole Anthony “not with team” as Ott said there’s no update on whether he winds up joining the team or not.
“They’re still working through that,” Ott said.
The Suns acquired Amir Coffey and Anthony from the Milwaukee Bucks in a three-team deal with the Chicago Bulls. Nick Richards joined the Bulls, Nigel Hayes-Davis was sent to the Bucks. Chicago dealt Ousmane Dieng to Milwaukee.
Have opinions about the current state of the Suns? Reach Suns Insider Duane Rankin at dmrankin@gannett.com or contact him at 480-810-5518. Follow him on X, formerly Twitter, at @DuaneRankin.
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This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Grayson Allen out, Jalen Green starting, Suns vs. Spurs after break