Oso Ighodaro considered day-to-day after Suns feared more serious back injury

PHOENIX — Oso Ighodaro will miss Saturday’s home opener, according to head coach Jordan Ott, but the Phoenix Suns believe they avoided a more serious injury for the big man.

Ighodaro made an early exit for the locker room late in the first half of Wednesday’s game in Portland, reaching for his back and hip area with what Ott called an oblique strain. Ighodaro was officially listed as doubtful but Ott said he won’t play.

“Pretty good report overall,” Ott said Friday. “We hope it’s just more day-to-day than long term. Think we avoided something serious.”

He had come off the bench behind starter Khaman Maluach, but Ighodaro played 14:37 of the first half while Maluach played 9:19 of it. Ighodaro had eight points (second among Suns in first half), and his three assists led the team at that point.

Ighodaro’s injury will put more stress on Maluach to make the jump to being a starter-caliber big man perhaps quicker than intended, as Mark Williams will also miss a significant portion of the season.

“We talk about being ready for your opportunity — you never know when it’s going to come — and they’ll be great reps,” Ott said. “I think you look back at the film even the other night. He’s going to have a handful of plays he wants back and he could do better, but there’s also a lot of things that he brings with his size that we need.

“Every night is someone different. Draymond (Green) is different than (Nikola) Jokic. Jokic is different than Chet (Holmgren). … You only get better by experience, and he’ll definitely have the experience of going up against some of the best here early in the season.”

Maluach finished Wednesday’s game with two points on two shots with six rebounds and one block in 17 minutes.

The injury will also mean more minutes for two-way center Duop Reath, who had five points on three shots and one rebound in nine minutes.

Suns’ Luke Kennard questionable, ‘trending in the right direction’

Sharpshooter Luke Kennard did not play in the opener after injuring his knee late in the preseason. He had been listed as questionable until being ruled out about an hour before tip-off.

He is again questionable for Saturday. Ott said earlier that the newcomer guard is on the “same normal path, trending in the right direction, for sure” after practicing on Friday.

While Kennard is not a starter, Phoenix likely would’ve benefited from his scoring threat being available as the Suns went the first 7:33 of the contest without a made field goal.

Phoenix will try to bounce back from the loss when it hosts the Golden State Warriors in the home opener at Mortgage Matchup Center.

Catch tip-off Saturday at 7 p.m. MST on Arizona Sports 98.7 or the app.

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