Devin Booker is listed as questionable for Thursday’s road game against the Detroit Pistons with a left ankle sprain, placing a spotlight on Phoenix’s margin for error during a critical road stretch.
Booker suffered the injury late in the third quarter of Tuesday’s 127-121 loss to the Miami Heat. The guard attempted a transition block, landed awkwardly near the baseline, and immediately showed discomfort. He exited the game with 55 seconds left in the quarter but returned early in the fourth despite the ankle clearly stiffening. That decision reflected both Booker’s competitiveness and Phoenix’s reliance on him.
“Man, dude is a warrior,” Suns coach Jordan Ott said postgame. “We knew it was going to stiffen up. As soon as he was ready, we were going to put him in. You could tell after some of his shots when he landed, he wasn’t feeling great.”
Phoenix is already thin. For a team that has already been overly reliant on asking role players to be uncharacteristically aggressive as shot creators, losing Booker only puts more pressure on those guys to produce above expectation.
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The Suns enter Thursday at 24-16 and in the middle of a six-game road trip that will help define their place in the Western Conference. Expectations were modest entering the season following the offseason trade of Kevin Durant, and those projections dipped further when the primary return piece, Jalen Green, was sidelined.
Green remains ruled out Thursday with a right hamstring strain and now missed 30 consecutive games since Nov. 8. Two-way guard Jamaree Bouyea is also out in concussion protocol, though both are nearing returns.
Despite those absences, Phoenix has stayed afloat through unexpected contributions. Dillon Brooks has played at a borderline All-Star level, while role players like Collin Gillespie have provided steady minutes and shot-making. That balance has helped offset a lack of continuity. Booker has also been on an All-Star selection worthy run this season, averaging 25.2 points, 4.1 rebounds and 6.5 assists per game.
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Still, the Suns’ record without Booker illustrates his value. Phoenix is 1-2 in games he has missed this season, including losses to the Houston Rockets and Oklahoma City Thunder, along with a narrow win over the Minnesota Timberwolves.
Whether Booker plays Thursday will influence how aggressively Phoenix manages the rest of the trip. With postseason positioning already in play, the Suns must balance urgency with preservation, an equation that only gets harder when their cornerstone is less than 100 percent.
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