Devin Booker’s holiday schedule just got a bit more complicated. The Phoenix Suns star will miss at least two upcoming games because of a sore left groin – an injury he picked up during Thursday’s matchup with the Indiana Pacers.
The timing couldn’t be worse for Suns fans. Booker will be watching from the sidelines when his team faces the Detroit Pistons on Saturday and heads to Denver on Monday.
But here’s where it gets interesting: there’s still a chance he could suit up for the Christmas Day showdown against the Nuggets back in Phoenix.
The Suns are calling it groin “soreness” rather than a strain, which might be good news. They’ll take another look at how he’s doing early next week.
It’s been a different kind of season for Booker. His shooting hasn’t been quite as sharp as usual – he’s hitting 43.9% from the floor and 34.5% from three-point range. But he’s still putting up All-Star numbers, averaging 25.1 points and dishing out 6.4 assists in nearly 37 minutes per game.
This will actually be the first game Booker’s missed all season. He’s played in all 26 games so far.
With their star guard out, the Suns will need others to step up. Grayson Allen and Ryan Dunn might see more playing time, and Josh Okogie – who hasn’t been getting much court time lately – could get another chance to prove himself.
The team will be keeping their fingers crossed for a Christmas Day return, but they’ll have to wait and see how Booker’s recovery goes over the next few days.
