Without a win in March, Suns will also be without Booker, Warren in Houston
Mar 30, 2018, 4:27 PM
Phoenix Suns' Alex Len, third from left, Tyson Chandler and Elfrid Payton, right, sit on the bench during the second half of an NBA basketball game against the Miami Heat, Monday, March 5, 2018, in Miami. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)
(AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)
The Phoenix Suns do not have a win in the month of March and their last game before April hits is in Houston against the Rockets, a team that has hit 61 wins before any other team in the league has reached more than 55.
If that wasn’t bad enough, Phoenix will be without Devin Booker, T.J. Warren, Elfrid Payton, Alex Len and Jared Dudley.
Bothered by a right hand sprain, Booker will miss his seventh consecutive game. In games Booker has missed this season, the Suns are 3-19.
Warren is now up to six straight games missed because of right knee inflammation. Phoenix is 1-10 in the games Warren has sat out.
Payton (left knee tendinopathy) and Len (left ankle sprain) will be sitting out their second straight games after not playing on Wednesday in the team’s 111-99 loss to the Los Angeles Clippers.
Dudley will also be out due to left ankle soreness.
That leaves Tyler Ulis, Troy Daniels, Josh Jackson, Dragan Bender and Marquese Chriss in the starting lineup. Luckily for the Suns with the G League regular season wrapped up, they have a deeper bench that includes Alec Peters and Danuel House, as well as the recently returned Alan Williams.
At 19-57, the Suns have lost all 13 games they have played in March. That tied a franchise record for the longest losing streak and a loss on Friday night would break it.
Since the start of February, the Suns have won one game, a Feb. 28 victory over the Memphis Grizzlies. Speaking of the Grizzlies, the Suns are 2.5 games ahead of Memphis for the top spot in the reverse standings.
A loss to the Rockets would make it a Suns loss in 29 of their last 31 games.
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