PHOENIX – Injuries to star players can quickly derail an NBA team’s momentum, but for a team that plays as fast-paced as the Suns, they believe that maintaining rhythm is all they need to stay afloat without their biggest star.
A road game at Atlanta on Jan. 23 was anything but kind to the Suns. In a 110-103 loss to the Hawks, four-time NBA All-Star Devin Booker and guard Jalen Green exited the game with injuries, with Booker suffering a right ankle sprain and Jalen Green aggravating a hamstring strain. The duo also missed a Jan. 25 game vs. Miami.
In his first season with the team, coach Jordan Ott has prioritized speed and urgency on offense – a system that, before the season, he felt perfectly fit the playing styles of this duo.
“Part of the offense is that we want to play fast,” Ott said. “In order to play fast, you need to have multiple ball-handlers. … We’re extremely lucky to have depth in that guard position.”
Despite a lingering hamstring injury that has kept Green sidelined for 42 of the Suns’ 46 games so far, Ott has been able to employ this tempo-pushing style of offense under Booker.
But with Booker, Green and backup guard Collin Gillespie all on the injury report ahead of Tuesday’s game against Brooklyn, it is clear that others must shoulder the offensive load in order for the Suns to maintain production as the Feb. 13-15 NBA All-Star Weekend approaches.
“(Booker) creates so much attraction on the court,” Suns forward Royce O’Neale said. “He creates everyone open looks. Having him not out there, I think we just have to play faster. … It’s a different style of basketball, but it’s similar to the way he was playing as well – playing fast.”
Booker is set to be re-evaluated next week.
Center Mark Williams echoed the need to maintain Ott’s fast and aggressive style in the games ahead, regardless of recent injury trouble.
“Our principles are still the same,” Williams said. “We still want to play fast, we still want to play with a lot of intensity. … We’re still trying to do a lot of the same things, we just have to be better as a unit.”
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Suns try to maintain offensive production despite injuries to Booker, Green
Andy Romike, Cronkite News
January 27, 2026
PHOENIX – Injuries to star players can quickly derail an NBA team’s momentum, but for a team that plays as fast-paced as the Suns, they believe that maintaining rhythm is all they need to stay afloat without their biggest star.
A road game at Atlanta on Jan. 23 was anything but kind to the Suns. In a 110-103 loss to the Hawks, four-time NBA All-Star Devin Booker and guard Jalen Green exited the game with injuries, with Booker suffering a right ankle sprain and Jalen Green aggravating a hamstring strain. The duo also missed a Jan. 25 game vs. Miami.
In his first season with the team, coach Jordan Ott has prioritized speed and urgency on offense – a system that, before the season, he felt perfectly fit the playing styles of this duo.
“Part of the offense is that we want to play fast,” Ott said. “In order to play fast, you need to have multiple ball-handlers. … We’re extremely lucky to have depth in that guard position.”
Despite a lingering hamstring injury that has kept Green sidelined for 42 of the Suns’ 46 games so far, Ott has been able to employ this tempo-pushing style of offense under Booker.
But with Booker, Green and backup guard Collin Gillespie all on the injury report ahead of Tuesday’s game against Brooklyn, it is clear that others must shoulder the offensive load in order for the Suns to maintain production as the Feb. 13-15 NBA All-Star Weekend approaches.
“(Booker) creates so much attraction on the court,” Suns forward Royce O’Neale said. “He creates everyone open looks. Having him not out there, I think we just have to play faster. … It’s a different style of basketball, but it’s similar to the way he was playing as well – playing fast.”
Booker is set to be re-evaluated next week.
Center Mark Williams echoed the need to maintain Ott’s fast and aggressive style in the games ahead, regardless of recent injury trouble.
“Our principles are still the same,” Williams said. “We still want to play fast, we still want to play with a lot of intensity. … We’re still trying to do a lot of the same things, we just have to be better as a unit.”
This article first appeared on Cronkite News and is republished here under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
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