The Suns are rolling, winning 11 of their past 16 games, including two victories over the Knicks in just over a week. They’re currently fighting for a top-six seed in the Western Conference and boast a 25-17 record, despite having spent most of the season playing without Jalen Green, a key offseason addition.
“We miss Jalen,” Devin Booker said after Phoenix’s latest win over New York on Saturday, per Duane Rankin of the Arizona Republic. “I think Jalen, he’s another person out there that’ll have rim presence for us and draw a lot of fouls. [Collin Gillespie], he’s really punctual. He’s going to get to his middy. Grayson (Allen) has some rim pressure, but we’re all getting excited for Jalen.”
Allen echoed Booker’s sentiment and expressed excitement about how Green could fit into the offense.
“Just another guy who can create his own shot, create advantages for other people,” Allen said. “Make tough shots. Draw two defenders. He’s a big-time scorer. So he’ll help a lot.”
The wait for Green’s return may be over. According to Rankin (Twitter link), the fifth-year guard is listed as questionable for Monday’s game against the Nets. While his return isn’t guaranteed, coach Jordan Ott spoke in optimistic terms after the team’s shootaround on Saturday.
“Everything seemed to be good,” Ott said of Green’s third stint of five-on-five work. “So, we’ll see. Still going in the right direction.”
Booker hinted that Green could have returned earlier, suggesting that the Suns were being cautious with his recovery.
“He’s been licking his chops getting ready for this moment,” Booker said. “I think we’ve overdone it with keeping him out. He’s going to be healthy and strong and ready to go.”
We have more injury notes from around the NBA:
- Tyler Herro didn’t travel with the Heat for their five-game road trip after suffering a rib contusion that caused him to miss Saturday’s game against the Thunder, writes Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun Sentinel (via Twitter). While initial reports indicated that the injury was on the more minor side, he is now set to undergo an MRI, per Winderman (Twitter link), and it’s unclear how many more games he’ll be held out for. Herro has been plagued by injuries for most of the season, having missed 31 of Miami’s first 42 games.
- Lakers stars Luka Doncic and LeBron James are questionable to play in Sunday night’s matchup against the Raptors, tweets Marc Stein. Doncic is dealing with left groin soreness, while James continues to fight through left foot joint arthritis and sciatica. The Lakers are still missing their third star, Austin Reaves, due to the calf strain that has sidelined him since Christmas.
- The Knicks are in a tailspin, having lost eight of their last 10 games, and they may have to make do without two of their leaders against the beat-up Mavericks on Monday. Stefan Bondy of The New York Post notes (via Twitter) that Jalen Brunson and Josh Hart are both listed as questionable for the game. Brunson, the team’s captain and offensive hub, is dealing with a right ankle sprain, while Josh Hart, who in many ways represents the team’s emotional leader, has right ankle soreness.
- While the Mavericks are still missing a majority of the top end of their roster, including P.J. Washington (personal reasons), Daniel Gafford (right ankle sprain), and D’Angelo Russell (illness), they got a bit of good news, as star rookie Cooper Flagg was upgraded to questionable as he looks to return from a left ankle sprain, per Mike Curtis of The Dallas Morning News (Twitter link).
Starting from tomorrow, Lakers have 8 straight road games, then 8 home games against top or good teams
If Luka is injured, they should fall to 11th place
Trade now or 18 days later?
They just beat Toronto. Is Toronto a good team?
Toronto was missing 2 starters, the Lakers 1.
The Lakers have a negative net rating of -0.4, that’s unusual for a team that’s 9 games over .500
My guess is that they win at least 10 of the next 16.
Sorry for Knicks but no team that relies on KAT is ever winning a championship. He’s a talented player but not elite. Likewise Brunson is a ball dominant 6 footer with serious defensive issues. They are a 50 win team but won’t go far
They went to the ECF last season and just won the nba cup. Come on. 😆
“just won the NBA cup”
Ok,
Winning the NBA Cup is like winning the free-throw “Knockout” championship at your youth summer basketball camp
Towns is an issue I agree. This team went to ECF. And they can be better. So it’s up to Rose to make it happen. Coach Brown better get up to speed. Towns not only needs a kick in Aaa once in a while. He needs a D player at the 4. To help him look better. And Mitch ain’t the one. I don’t think you can move Towns unless it’s for bad contracts. So make it happen ……
This time last year Knicks had a better record.
The Knicks were 27-15 last season compared to 25-17 this season.
But the injuries have been a factor, this year they’ve lost 5 out of 6 with Brunson out, while last season up to this point he had only missed 1 game. And Hart was out 10 games with the Knicks losing 6 of them, while only being out for 1 game after 42 games last season.
Those injuries certainly aren’t Brown’s fault.
Mitch was out all year. Never played up to this point. Hart was out for 8 gms during this time. Even Brunson missed gams. And Knicks didn’t have a bench last yr. Then Brunson missed over a month later. They still won 51. No blame here only facts. Injuries aren’t an excuse for any coach. Or any team. That’s why you have a 15 man roster. Brown is riding on Thibs success. And even with a better bench. Hasn’t done any better
The coaching move may prove to be a mistake unfortunately. Still scratching my head as to why they fired Thibs without someone set to replace him. Browns history as a Head Coach tells the story. Time will tell
Embarrassing effort against Mavs at home. After extending Thibs they fire him and give Brown 4 years? Will Brown make it through his first season?