Suns’ Devin Booker, Kevin Durant, Bradley Beal out vs. Nuggets

The Phoenix Suns are without several key players for Sunday’s preseason matchup with the Denver Nuggets, including Devin Booker (right ankle soreness), Kevin Durant (rest) and Bradley Beal (rest).

Suns coach Mike Budenholzer said on Saturday that Booker, Jusuf Nurkic (left middle finger), Grayson Allen (Achilles soreness) and Josh Okogie (hamstring tightness) would be out. In addition, Tyus Jones will also be resting.

“Tomorrow, some of these other guys getting opportunities, and even last night, it is the silver lining of having guys that are injured,” Budenholzer said Saturday.

Phoenix Suns coach Mike Budenholzer said there was “no reason to push” Devin Booker to play in Friday’s preseason game against Detroit: pic.twitter.com/Vzi4ZvRJS5

— Arizona Sports (@AZSports) October 12, 2024

“I mean it’s the preseason. It’s just there’s no reason to push just generally his ankle,” Budenholzer said about Booker postgame on Friday after the Suns’ preseason loss to the Detroit Pistons. “I think he’s going to be fine.”

Booker was also ruled out Friday against the Pistons due to right ankle soreness. Booker played 22 minutes in Tuesday’s preseason win against the Pistons in East Lansing and 14 minutes in Sunday’s preseason opener against the Los Angeles Lakers. Booker is averaging 11.0 points, 1.5 rebounds and three assists during the preseason.

Beal and Durant have both played in all three of the Suns’ initial preseason games before Sunday.

Nurkic has yet to play in the preseason, but he continues to inch closer to a return.

“He’s making good progress,” Budenholzer said about Nurkic’s status on Saturday. “We feel good about it. He won’t play tomorrow, but we’re happy with how he’s progressing.”

Allen will be absent for the third straight preseason game. He missed Tuesday’s preseason win in Detroit for personal reasons (his wife is expecting to give birth to their first child) but is now dealing with an Achilles issue.

Okogie left Friday’s game in the third quarter with “hamstring tightness” and did not return. In three preseason games, Okogie is averaging 6.3 points, 2.3 rebounds, 1.3 assists and one steal in 14.3 minutes.

“I think we’ll look at it, assess it,” Budenholzer said about Okogie after Friday’s loss. “I think there’s just some hamstring awareness, hamstring tightness, so we’ll see how it feels in the morning.”

The Suns will play two more preseason games, an away game Sunday against the Nuggets before the preseason finale at home on Thursday against the Lakers.

The regular season begins on Oct. 23 when the Suns head to Los Angeles to face the Clippers at the new Intuit Dome in Inglewood.

Sunday’s game against the Nuggets will tip off at 5:30 p.m. on 98.7 and the Arizona Sports app. 

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