Suns’ Devin Booker won’t play in season finale against Kings
Apr 11, 2017, 9:02 AM | Updated: 5:50 pm
Phoenix Suns guard Devin Booker. (AP Photo/Matt York)
(AP Photo/Matt York)
The Phoenix Suns wrap up their 2016-17 season Tuesday night at the Golden 1 Center in Sacramento against the Kings, and their lineup will look even more different than it has for much of the second half of the year.
Resting players has been commonplace for the Suns since the All-Star break. Veterans Tyson Chandler, Brandon Knight and Eric Bledsoe haven’t seen the court in a long time.
But second-year guard Devin Booker, the Suns’ best player, has not seen a dip in his playing time down the stretch. In fact, Booker is logging 36.3 minutes per game since the break.
Booker will sit out at Sacramento, opening up playing time for Elijah Millsap, who joined the team for the final two games of the year. Millsap, who spent the season in the NBA Developmental League with the Northern Arizona Suns, played 12 minutes in the Suns’ win over Dallas on Sunday.
Head coach Earl Watson, a guest of Doug and Wolf Tuesday morning on Arizona Sports 98.7 FM, was asked about his plans for Booker against the Kings.
“Devin, for us, is very special moving forward,” Watson said. “I don’t want to risk injury. So for me, we have to be very careful with Devin.”
Pressed on whether that meant reduced minutes in Sacramento or 48 minutes in sweats on the bench, Watson turned into a promoter, of sorts.
“That means you have to watch the game,” he said with a laugh.
Arizona Sports’ John Gambadoro took the mystery out of the situation by reporting the following later Tuesday morning.
Devin Booker will not play tonight vs Sacramento
— John Gambadoro (@Gambo987) April 11, 2017
The game will have draft lottery ramifications for the Suns, who have won their last two contests. Phoenix currently has the worst record in the Western Conference at 24-57. A loss would guarantee them the second-best odds of landing the top overall pick in the lottery, which happens May 16.
The Los Angeles Lakers, at 25-55 but winners of four straight, have two games remaining: Tuesday against New Orleans and Wednesday at Golden State.
The season finale tips off at 7:30 and Hall-of-Famer Al McCoy and Tim Kempton will have the call on Arizona Sports 98.7 FM.
