Time waits for no man – and that includes the Phoenix Suns.
They’re facing the toughest remaining NBA schedule and have just 21 games remaining to come together in time for the playoffs despite injuries and 22 different starting lineups.
“We got time, but we can’t keep saying we got time,” Suns star guard Bradley Beal said after Sunday’s home loss to Oklahoma City. “It’s a good amount of games to really get us going and get us going right before the playoffs. I think that will be really good for us, but we do got to get rolling. We can’t keep talking about it. We can’t keep saying, we got time, we’ll fix it.”
The Suns (35-26) are sixth in the West as they’re a game behind the Pelicans (36-25) and a half game ahead of the Kings (34-26), who lost Monday at home to the Bulls (29-32). They play Boston, Minnesota, Denver, Cleveland, Los Angeles Clippers and New Orleans twice and face Oklahoma City and Milwaukee one more time.
The Celtics (48-12) have the NBA’s best record and the league’s current longest win streak at 11 while the Bucks (41-21) and Cavaliers (39-21) are 2-3 in the East. The T-Wolves (43-19), Thunder (42-19), Nuggets (42-19), Clippers (39-21) and Pelicans (36-25) are 1-5 in the West ahead of Phoenix, respectively.
“We’ve got to do it,” Beal said. “We have our team now going into playoffs and now we’ve got to hit this head on. We’ve got a lot of teams coming in here ready, playoff teams. It’s a good challenge for us.”
Phoenix will be without Devin Booker for Tuesday’s showdown against defending NBA champion Denver at Ball Arena. The four-time All-Star suffered a right ankle injury stepping on teammate Royce O’Neale’s left ankle trying to guard Rockets point guard Fred VanVleet late in Saturday’s loss to Houston.
“Just play ball, it’s simple as that,” Suns superstar Kevin Durant said after Tuesdays’ shootaround. “Do your job and play hard and that’ll make up a for a lot of stuff that we’re missing. It’s hard to fill those shoes. You’re never could be able to fill those shoes. We’ve all just got to play as hard as we can and play together.”
Booker didn’t play Sunday against Oklahoma City as O’Neale started in his place.
“He’s an importance piece, but just hold it down until he gets back,” O’Neale said after Tuesday’s shootaround.
Sources informed The Republic that Booker’s time range to return is between five and 14 days with five days being the best case and two weeks the worst case. The Suns have seven games within the next two weeks starting Tuesday against the Nuggets and ending March 17 at Milwaukee.
Having Booker out for multiple games is this team’s latest adjustment, but it comes late in the regular season with the Suns looking to avoid the play-in tournament, improve their postseason position and build some continuity.
Phoenix Suns forward Kevin Durant (35) and guard Bradley Beal (3) celebrate a basket against the Oklahoma City Thunder during the first quarter at Footprint Center in Phoenix on March 3, 2024.
“If we just stick to the basics, keep building our identity as a group, then we’ll be fine,” Durant said. “Guys can just plug and play after that. I think we’re figuring out what it takes from each one of us to be successful out there. We’re trying to use this time to keep getting better. We still got time before the playoffs start. When the playoffs start, that’s when we want to be at our best.”
Nassir Little and Booker didn’t make the trip to Denver. Little will miss a fourth straight game with left knee inflammation. Josh Okogie is in Denver, but he also was ruled out for Tuesday’s game with a lower abdominal strain after being a late scratch Sunday with a right hip injury.
Jusuf Nurkic was listed as questionable with right calf tightness, but he said after Tuesday’s shootaround the calf feels better and is fine after underdoing a series of tests.
Phoenix Suns center Jusuf Nurkic (20) grabs a rebound against the Oklahoma City Thunder during the fourth quarter at Footprint Center in Phoenix on March 3, 2024.
“I’ll warm up and see, but I plan on playing,” Nurkic said. “I’ll always choose to play if I can.”
Nurkic grabbed a career-high 31 rebounds in Sunday’s loss to the Thunder. The mark also set a franchise record for the Suns.
The 7-footer played through neck spasms after Okogie inadvertently hit him in the face trying to block a shot inside the paint in the first half of Saturday’s defeat to the Rockets.
Nurkic didn’t play in the second half, was tested for a concussion, but was ruled with just having a neck sprain.
