Phoenix Suns get key players back for game vs Denver Nuggets
The Phoenix Suns have struggled with injuries all season long, but these players will be back to face the Denver Nuggets.
The Phoenix Suns may have lost their last game to the Toronto Raptors – a contest that snapped a seven game winning streak for the team – but the season has gone well to this point. After a rocky start in which the group dropped back-to-back games against the San Antonio Spurs, who have not won a single game since then, the Suns have steadied the ship.
It would be amazing to see Bradley Beal suit up again before Christmas, but he is still more than a week away from being re-evaluated. The back issue which has limited him to only three games played all season continuing to keep him out. In fact the “Big 3” of Beal, Devin Booker and Kevin Durant haven’t seen one minute of competitive action together, which was not the plan for this franchise.
Then there is Durant, who missed two games recently through foot soreness but appears fully healthy once more. This is a big week for the Suns, who welcome the defending champion Denver Nuggets to the Footprint Center to kick off the month, before trying to win the inagural in-season tournament. We already know Booker’s thoughts on that, and any chance to win some silverware should be taken seriously.
To do that – and beat the Nuggets beforehand – the Suns are going to have to get as many healthy bodies on the court as possible, and we now have an update on several of their key players.
Beal is of course out, while Durant is available. Booker unfortunately is listed as questionable, having rolled his ankle and then tried to play through the injury in the loss to the Raptors in Toronto. He managed to play 33 minutes – although the merits of doing this are hard to argue because he could have made it worse – and finished with only eight points. After the game, head coach Frank Vogel had this to say;
If the Suns are to have any chance against the Nuggets, then having Booker running the show as the point guard is a must. On the other hand, would you rather lose this game in order to beat the Los Angeles Lakers for what would be the first time this season, and in doing so head to Las Vegas for the semi-finals of the in-season tournament?
Perhaps the organization are viewing the Nuggets and Memphis Grizzlies home game the following night as contests where they can again lean heavily on Durant, in the hopes that Booker can make the trip to Los Angeles. In any event we may not see him, but there is some good news for coach Vogel in the form of two rotation players becoming available again.
