Injuries to Green, Booker unlocked this silver lining for Suns

As a retooled Phoenix Suns roster continues to impress in 2025-26 by beating expectations and entrenching them in the playoff picture — they’re No. 6 in the Western Conference at the time of writing — one variable has held them back: injuries.

Jalen Green, the key trade chip coming back to The Valley in the Kevin Durant trade with the Houston Rockets, has played just 54 minutes all season across four games as he battles a recurring hamstring injury.

Face of the franchise Devin Booker missed time in December due to a groin injury, and he’s been sidelined once again after a fluky play resulted in an ankle sprain against the Atlanta Hawks. Fortunately, he’s only expected to miss about a week.

Missing those two key scorers no doubt limits what the Suns are able to do offensively, but Jordan Ott’s banged-up crew showed how they can adapt in a Jan. 27 win against the Brooklyn Nets.

Suns hit season-high for points in the paint against Nets

In that 106-102 win over Brooklyn, the Suns scored a season-best 72 points in the paint.

Put another way, more than two-thirds of their points were scored in the painted area, which is pretty much unheard of in today’s NBA which continues to emphasize outside shooting.

But with Green and Book both sidelined, it was clear from the jump that Phoenix intended to work the ball inside against a lackluster Nets defense. Brooklyn ranks within the bottom five in the league by defensive rating, and the Suns took advantage by involving Mark Williams early and often.

Looking like an NBA2K simulation, Williams played the pick-and-roll beautifully to set the tone with a number of contorting slams and finishes at the rim. He finished the first quarter with 10 points on 5-of-7 shooting, helping to offset the offensive firepower of Michael Porter Jr. who scored 12 first-quarter points of his own.

Williams finished with a season-high 27 points on the night on 13-of-16 shooting (81.3%).

Dillon Brooks scored 26 points of his own on 60% shooting from the field, while Grayson Allen added 18.

It’s worth noting fans shouldn’t get too excited about a win over the Nets, one of the worst teams in the league. With that being said, the outburst from Williams and the collective inside scoring adds a new dynamic for Phoenix they can use even when Book and Green are healthy.

Williams being engaged offensively generally leads to success for the Suns. In fact, when Williams has scored more than 20 points in a game this season, the Suns are 4-1. The lone loss came in overtime against the Utah Jazz when neither Brooks nor Green suited up to play.

Getting Williams involved heavily in the offense is no doubt a matchup call. Pounding the ball in the paint isn’t going to work against every opponent. Nevertheless, it’s a great option to have at your disposal — especially when outside shots aren’t falling, like what happened in the Jan. 25 loss against the Miami Heat.

The Suns made just 20% of their 3-point attempts in that loss (7-of-35 overall). Williams finished the game with just six field goal attempts, sinking four of them.

Keeping Williams engaged on the offensive end provides the Suns with even more balance around the key scorers like Brooks, Booker (when healthy) and Green (ditto).

Whether the Suns are playing inside out or outside in, Ott’s crew showed against Brooklyn they can be a dangerous offensive team with a number of worthy threats that defenses have to account for.

If nothing else, the latest absences of Booker and Green allow Ott and the Suns to experiment with new looks that make inside scoring a priority. Having that option is something they need to embrace — not abandon — when the perimeter scoring threats are back in the fray.