Devin Booker, Cam Johnson remain out for Suns ahead of game vs. Magic
Mar 7, 2022, 3:25 PM | Updated: 3:28 pm
Devin Booker #1 of the Phoenix Suns celebrates with Cameron Johnson #23 after defeating the Washington Wizards in an NBA basketball game at ESPN Wide World Of Sports Complex on July 31, 2020 in Lake Buena Vista, Florida. (Photo by Kim Klement - Pool/Getty Images)
(Photo by Kim Klement - Pool/Getty Images)
The Phoenix Suns will remain shorthanded for the first game of their back-to-back in Florida on Tuesday.
Devin Booker (health and safety protocols) and Cam Johnson (right quad contusion) are listed as out on Phoenix’s injury report for a matchup with the Orlando Magic.
The Suns announced on Feb. 2 that Booker was placed in the protocols. He has missed three games for Phoenix since.
Johnson took a knee to that quad from New York’s Mitchell Robinson in the second quarter of Friday’s Suns win against the Knicks. As is the case with some injuries players will pick up in the middle of games, adrenaline and such allowed Johnson to play through it and finish with a career-high 38 points.
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Both players, along with Chris Paul (right thumb avulsion fracture), did not play in Sunday’s loss to the Milwaukee Bucks, a hard-fought effort for a shorthanded squad that led the majority of the NBA Finals rematch.
Johnson did not travel with the team to Milwaukee for the first game of the Suns’ three-game road trip, per The Arizona Republic’s Duane Rankin. That does not bode well for his chances of appearing in Wednesday’s finale against the Miami Heat before the team comes back to Phoenix.
Booker is in his third straight All-Star season and has a legitimate chance to make his first All-NBA team. He’s averaging 25.6 points, 5.2 rebounds and 4.6 assists per game.
The 2021-22 season has been a breakout year for Johnson. Since Christmas, Johnson is shooting 50.7% from the field and 46.3% at 3-point range while posting 15.1 points per contest.
Suns head coach Monty Williams has been starting reserve guards Cam Payne and Landry Shamet in place of Paul and Booker, while the hole for Johnson is off the bench. In Milwaukee, Williams went big to match the Bucks’ size by playing both JaVale McGee and Bismack Biyombo.
Aaron Holiday got 18 minutes and it was 21 for Torrey Craig but Johnson’s absence brought on 42 minutes for starter Mikal Bridges. Williams could turn to two-way wing Ish Wainright in other matchups to get to a nine-man rotation if he doesn’t want to go big.
