Devin Booker set to return after missing 7 games for Phoenix Suns

Phoenix Suns shooting guard Devin Booker is set to return on Sunday against the Charlotte Hornets after missing seven games due to a left hamstring strain.

INJURY UPDATE: Devin Booker (left hamstring strain) is available to play tonight. pic.twitter.com/moQQT9SVKx

— Phoenix Suns (@Suns) December 19, 2021

On Nov. 30 against the Golden State Warriors, Booker aggravated his hamstring on a drive to the basket in the second quarter. He grabbed at it for only a second before shooting free throws and then exiting the game. Head coach Monty Williams said that was a situation in which Booker wanted to keep playing but Williams kept him out.

Without Booker across the seven games, the Suns have a record of 5-2. That stretch included more challenges when centers Deandre Ayton and Jalen Smith both came down with a non-COVID illness, which had the Suns only with 10 available players for a road back-to-back in Los Angeles in Portland.

Phoenix’s depth has been hampered by the consistent absence of centers Dario Saric (right torn ACL) and Frank Kaminsky (right knee stress reaction), plus wing Abdel Nader (right knee injury management), who has been out since Nov. 19. The two big men are out indefinitely while no timetable has been announced on Nader.

Booker this season is averaging 23.2 points, 4.9 rebounds and 4.5 assists per game in 21 appearances. That rebound average would be a career-high, and so would his 40.3% mark from three-point range, over six percent higher than his efficiency last season.

The points per game of 23.2 is the lowest for Booker since his second season but he has notoriously been a slow starter. When looking at his career splits, Booker’s lowest scoring averages by month are December (19.7), November (20.5) and October (21.6). He really gets going in January (24.4) and gets even better for March (26.6).

The Suns host the Hornets at 6 p.m. Catch all the action on 98.7 FM Arizona’s Sports Station.

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