{"id":561844,"date":"2026-01-26T12:38:13","date_gmt":"2026-01-26T12:38:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/561844\/"},"modified":"2026-01-26T12:38:13","modified_gmt":"2026-01-26T12:38:13","slug":"what-devin-bookers-injury-means-for-the-phoenix-suns","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/561844\/","title":{"rendered":"What Devin Booker’s Injury Means for the Phoenix Suns"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Phoenix Suns announced on Sunday that star guard Devin Booker<\/a> would be re-evaluated in one week after sustaining a right ankle sprain in Friday\u2019s game against the Atlanta Hawks on the road.<\/p>\n

What Devin Booker\u2019s Injury Means for the Phoenix Suns<\/p>\n

Booker\u2019s injury appeared to be serious for the Suns after he collided<\/a> with Hawks forward Onyeka Okongwu<\/a> late in the third quarter. <\/p>\n

He ended up making his way to the locker room with a \u2018big limp\u2019 on Friday as he missed the remainder of the game, resulting in Phoenix losing to Atlanta.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThere was a little grieving process after the Atlanta game, then you move forward,\u201d first-year head coach Jordan Ott said<\/a> pregame. \u201cThat\u2019s what this game is about. How you overcome the next hurdle that\u2019s thrown at you.\u201d<\/p>\n

Booker is a key contributor to the Suns\u2019 surprise with new group after failing the \u2018big three\u2019 experiment with him, Kevin Durant<\/a>, and Bradley Beal<\/a> this past season. Appearing in 41 games throughout the season, he leads Phoenix in points per game (25.4) and assists per game (6.2).<\/p>\n

Suns Return To Phoenix After Playing Six Games on the Road<\/p>\n

The team returned to Phoenix after a six-game road trip, where they went 3-3, and began a five-game homestand on Sunday with a loss to the Miami Heat. The extended time at home would benefit Booker and the Suns as he focuses on recovery before returning to the court.<\/p>\n

Ott and guard Grayson Allen<\/a> told reporters what Phoenix misses when they have Booker and guard Jalen Green<\/a>, who also missed Sunday\u2019s game due to a \u201cprecautionary right hamstring tightness<\/a>,\u201d together on the half-court offense.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s able to create that first domino so many times and make the right play,\u201d Ott said<\/a> of Booker\u2019s leadership. \u201cTalked about it all year, his ability to get off of it at the perfect time. Have a feel for the game, have a feel for his teammates, is unmatched and unlike anything like I\u2019ve been around. Without him out there, their ability to switch really affected us.\u201d<\/p>\n

Updates on Jalen Green<\/p>\n

Green, who missed 41 games in the season due to hamstring issues, also returned for the Suns on Tuesday\u2019s game against the Philadelphia 76ers. He finished with seven points, two rebounds, and three assists.<\/p>\n

According to Ott<\/a>, the MRI revealed that Green\u2019s injury did not show \u201canything new\u201d in damage to the right hamstring. He also called it \u201cgood news,\u201d with a sense of relief.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have to keep the pace up within the half court for the whole time that we\u2019re out there\u2026 don\u2019t make it so easy for teams to just switch and sit with a crowd and force us into some one on one stuff,\u201d Allen said<\/a>. \u201cWe\u2019ve done it, we\u2019ve done a great job of it throughout the year. It\u2019s just different without Book out there, that you have to play that way for 48 minutes.\u201d<\/p>\n

As the Suns continue their five-game homestand, they look to add in the \u201cnext-man-up\u201d mentality while patiently waiting for the returns of Booker and Green to the court.<\/p>\n

Phoenix, sitting at sixth in Western Conference standings (27-19), will welcome the visiting Brooklyn Nets (12-31) at the Mortgage Matchup Center on Tuesday.<\/p>\n

\u00a9 Brett Davis-Imagn Images<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Phoenix Suns announced on Sunday that star guard Devin Booker would be re-evaluated in one week after…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":561845,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3791],"tags":[7,2292,7781,861,3991,6,2065,472,4045,604],"class_list":{"0":"post-561844","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-phoenix-suns","8":"tag-basketball","9":"tag-devin-booker","10":"tag-grayson-allen","11":"tag-jalen-green","12":"tag-jordan-ott","13":"tag-nba","14":"tag-phoenix","15":"tag-phoenix-suns","16":"tag-phoenixsuns","17":"tag-suns"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/115961443550918991","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/561844","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=561844"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/561844\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/561845"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=561844"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=561844"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=561844"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}