Suns’ Bradley Beal expected to return from injury vs. Celtics

Phoenix Suns guard Bradley Beal is expected to make his return from injury Friday night against the Boston Celtics, head coach Mike Budenholzer told reporters on Thursday.

Budenholzer added that forward Royce O’Neale would also be available for the tilt.

Beal hasn’t played since March 16 due to a left hamstring strain. He’s missed the past eight games.

In 48 games played (33 starts), the guard is averaging 17.3 points on 50.5% shooting and 39.5% from 3-point land.

With Beal sidelined, young two-way guard Collin Gillespie has stepped into a bigger role.

Across the past eight games that Beal has missed (all starts), Gillespie is averaging 9.3 points, 3.3 rebounds and 4.3 assists.

Bradley Beal expected back amid Suns’ final stretch

The expected return of the veteran comes at a good time for Phoenix amid a four-game losing streak and play-in tournament race.

Entering play Thursday, Phoenix (35-41) is 11th in the Western Conference and a full game back from the final play-in spot held by the Sacramento Kings with six games to play.

Sacramento currently holds the head-to-head tiebreaker (2-1). The two will face off one more time to end the regular season.

With both the Suns and Kings floundering in the back end of the season, the Dallas Mavericks now sit 2.5 games ahead of Phoenix and 1.5 ahead of Sacramento.

The Suns take on the Celtics on Friday night. Tip-off is slated for 4:30 p.m. and can be heard on the Arizona Sports app, 98.7 and arizonasports.com.

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