Phoenix Suns star guard Devin Booker exited early during their Christmas Day game against the Denver Nuggets after re-aggravating his groin injury in the first quarter. Booker did not return to the court as the Suns lost to their conference rivals.
There’s concern that this injury could impact Booker moving forward. The Suns announced that Booker is back in Phoenix to get further evaluation of the injury and has already ruled him out for Tuesday’s outing with the Memphis Grizzlies, via the Arizona Republic’s Duane Rankin.
Booker, 26, has missed five of the Suns’ past eight games. While he did have a 58-point outing in a win over the New Orleans Pelicans on Dec. 17, it’s clear that something is not right here.
For a Suns team that sits at 19-15 and fifth in the Western Conference, this is troubling news. Phoenix is 1-4 in the five games that Booker has missed over the past two-plus weeks. Dating back to last season, the Suns are 8-10 with Booker sidelined and 75-23 when he suits up. You can do the math from there.
- Devin Booker stats (2022-23): 27.1 PPG, 4.6 RPG, 5.6 APG, 48% shooting, 37% three-point shooting
When he’s been on the court this season, Booker has looked every bit the part of an NBA MVP candidate. That includes five games with at least 41 points and another two in which Booker has hit the 50-point plateau.
The Suns are currently in the beginning stages of a six-game road trip that will see them face off with the aforementioned Grizzlies as well as the Toronto Raptors, New York Knicks and Cleveland Cavaliers. They then have a difficult stretch of outings against the Miami Heat, Golden State Warriors and Nuggets. Depending on how long Booker is out, things could get ugly here.
The Suns and their fans will surely be paying close attention to the situation as the NBA world awaits further updates.
