Suns’ Beal exits game after taking elbow to face, Nurkic ruled out

Phoenix Suns guard Bradley Beal exited Friday’s game against the Indiana Pacers after taking an elbow to his face.

In the mid-third quarter on a drive by Pacers center Myles Turner, the big man was holding the ball high as he was making his basketball move toward the rim. Beal stepped in front to take a charge, and with Turner having his arms up, his elbow hit Beal directly in the face.

Beal was down on the ground for over a minute and appeared to be bleeding from his nose.

Bradley Beal gets elbowed in the face by Myles Turner pic.twitter.com/KOCsfiTQF3

— Cage (@ridiculouscage) January 27, 2024

After a replay review, it was ruled a common foul on Turner, as there was no windup and it was a traditional basketball move by Turner.

Beal returned in the fourth quarter.

Center Jusuf Nurkic, however, checked out in the third quarter with a left thumb injury and was ruled out shortly after that.

Like Beal, Nurkic has been an integral part of Phoenix hitting its stride in January.

The Suns came into Friday winners in their last seven games and were in front for just about all of the contest behind another huge scoring night for Devin Booker before the Pacers stole it late in a 133-131 final. Booker ended the night with 62 points.

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