Ricky Rubio appears to avoid serious injury, listed as probable by Suns

The Phoenix Suns appear to have avoided a major scare with the way Ricky Rubio was injured in Wednesday night’s loss to the Los Angeles Lakers.

In the fourth quarter of the 117-107 loss, Rubio was defending Avery Bradley on the left side of the floor.

As Bradley jogged down the baseline, Rubio was backpedaling with his eyes toward the ball when his right foot gave out and he slipped.

Rubio immediately went down and stayed there for nearly 30 seconds before getting up with a heavy limp and did not return to the game.

One play earlier on that end, Lakers big man Anthony Davis fell on the floor, creating a wet spot that the teams’ staff will clean up when play goes to the other side of the court.

Sweaty Anthony Davis slides all over the floor & what happens to Ricky Rubio on the very next play?

I get it's mostly kids/volunteers (?) but what are we training them to do? What if that was LeBron on a drive? pic.twitter.com/SMhfJ6ZJjW

— David Kevin (@theIVpointplay) January 2, 2020

Rubio told reporters after the game that it was a hip injury, and given the way it looked, the assumption was a serious one.

Fortunately for the Suns, Rubio is listed as probable for Friday’s home game against the New York Knicks due to hip soreness, per The Athletic’s Gina Mizell.

#Suns officially listing Ricky Rubio (hip soreness) as probable to play tomorrow vs. New York. Frank Kaminsky (knee) is doubtful.

— Gina Mizell (@ginamizell) January 2, 2020

“I know he felt good today, he’s moving fine, so our hope and expectation is that he’ll be ready to play tomorrow,” Suns general manager James Jones said on 98.7 FM Arizona’s Sports Station’s Burns & Gambo prior to the injury report being released.

Rubio, both because of his own play and the Suns’ lack of depth behind him, is arguably the Suns’ most important player outside of Devin Booker.

He is second in the NBA in assists with 9.3 per game, a career-best, and is shooting 41.5% from the field for a career-high 13.9 points per game. His 3.71 assist-to-turnover ratio is the top league in the mark among starters. Rubio also leads the team in net rating at 4.6 and the team’s net rating when Rubio is off the floor is -6.8, easily the worst off-court net rating for any Suns player.

Head coach Monty Williams had fluctuated between Tyler Johnson, Jevon Carter, Elie Okobo and Ty Jerome in the minutes behind Rubio, with all four proving to be inconsistent and being unable to permanently lock down the backup point guard spot.

Rubio has missed six games this season due to injury.

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