Just when it looks like the Phoenix Suns have figured a few things out this season, the latest setback comes along to throw them off course. Up to this point that has generally meant one of Bradley Beal or Kevin Durant have been forced to sit as a result of injury.
The pair suffering calf strains at the same time, before an ankle sprain to Durant and knee swelling for Beal meant even more time missed. When healthy though this team looks borderline elite, although worryingly their availability wasn't enough to beat the Indiana Pacers on Thursday night, dropping the Suns to 14-12.
It was a game in which Devin Booker left and never returned.
In a season of ups-and-downs, Booker has been the one constant for this organization. Some of his performances have been below par - looking more like the subversive version of Booker we saw at the Olympics - but at least he was out there for the Suns.
He had played in every game so far this season too - and even managed 25 minutes in the loss to the Pacers - before having to leave the game. The reason given? Left groin tightness, which is not the kind of injury to try and play through in December. Yet that's what the superstar appeared to be trying to do in the first-half, as coach Budenholzer told the media afterwards;
"We talked a little bit about it in the back, (Booker) doesn’t remember a play or knows exactly when or where it happened, but I’m pretty sure it was sometime early in the third quarter." That might sound less serious than if Booker had gone down and immediately had to leave the game, but that is not necessarily the case.
Kevin Durant on the latest Suns injury to Devin Booker: "We hate that injuries can get in the way of beautiful basketball....It's a part of it, but it's still tough to take. So hopefully Book gets better by the hour and we'll see how he feels in the next couple of days" pic.twitter.com/W6RXQH3npU
— PHNX Suns (@PHNX_Suns) December 20, 2024
Earlier this month Franz Wagner of the Orlando Magic tore his oblique muscle - bizarrely the same injury that has limited his teammate Paolo Banchero to only five games so far this season - and only found out after the game. Like Booker, he was unable to say when the injury occurred, even after being shown film of the game.
So even though this wasn't one that required immediate attention, does not mean that it will not force Booker to miss some time. With a big Christmas Day matchup against the Denver Nuggets looming, the NBA will be hoping Booker can join Durant in playing against Nikola Jokic in the final game of that bumper slate of fixtures.
Looking at the positives though - and if ever there was a time for this to happen - it is surely now. The Emirates NBA Cup is done, not that the Suns were serious players anyway, and All-Star voting just opened. Booker is going to get his votes regardless, while sitting with Durant and Beal both available is not as scary a prospect as joining them on the treatment table.
It would also give Durant a chance to morph back into the alpha dog superstar that we know that he is - and even though he's done a wonderful job working alongside Booker - he is still capable of carrying a team for stretches. The same could also be true of Beal, who could use this opportunity to remind everybody that he still has star level talent.