Devin Booker misses second straight game with hamstring injury
Feb 8, 2019, 6:04 PM
(AP Photo/Nick Wass)
After missing Wednesday’s game against the Utah Jazz with a hamstring injury, Suns guard Devin Booker will sit out for a second straight game.
Booker, who left in the fourth quarter against the Houston Rockets with the injury, is out again for the team’s matchup against the Warriors on Friday night.
He was originally listed as questionable with tightness in his right hamstring.
Booker has now missed 15 games due to injury this season and has been listed on the injury report with six different injuries.
Following the team’s morning shootaround, there seemed to be a good chance at Booker getting the green light.
“[Booker] was going through the whole shootaround,” Suns head coach Igor Kokoskov said of the guard. “We didn’t expect for him to do much but he did everything that everyone else did.
“No big promises. If he’s available, he’s going to play, he’s going to start for us and if he can’t go we’ll know a few hours before the game.”
It would have been a welcome sight for the Suns, who enter the matchup already down De’Anthony Melton and one of their main scoring threats in T.J. Warren.
Booker’s absence was felt in the team’s 116-88 loss to the Jazz on Wednesday.
Josh Jackson’s and Deandre Ayton’s combined 47 points, 13 rebounds and eight assists were not enough without the guard.
In his 42 games played, Booker’s averaging 24.9 points, 6.7 assists and 3.8 rebounds per game.
Without Booker, the Suns have a tall task in front of them as Phoenix takes on a Warriors team coming off a dominant 141-102 win over the Spurs and looking for its third straight win.
The Suns will have a reinforcement, however, as newly acquired Tyler Johnson is expected to play Friday night.
With Booker out, Phoenix will turn to the starting lineup of Elie Okobo, Ayton, Jackson, Mikal Bridges and Dragan Bender.