The Phoenix Suns made one of the biggest splashes of the last NBA off-season. After coming up short of their goals in the playoffs for the second straight year, the team made some sweeping changes, one of which included a trade of Chris Paul for scoring guard Bradley Beal. It formed a new big three for Phoenix when adding him to the mix of Devin Booker and Kevin Durant, and the Suns became one of the favorites to represent the Western Conference in the NBA Finals in June.
Suns Get Beal Back, But Durant Out Tonight vs Warriors
Kevin Durant (ankle) is OUT for the Suns matchup with the Warriors tonight, the team has announced. pic.twitter.com/TsNa4zO22t
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) December 12, 2023
There were always questions about the durability of the trio and how many games they would actually play together. And through the first quarter of the regular season, the answer to that question is 0.
It is mostly thanks to the extended absences of Beal. He missed the first seven games of the season due to back tightness, and Booker joined him on the bench in five of those contests. Beal was able to return on November 8th, but wound up lasting just three games before re-aggravating the injury, causing him to be inactive yet again for the past 12 games.
Zero Games Together So Far For Beal/Booker/Durant Trio
Bradley Beal said he probably would’ve been hard-headed and tried to play through his back injury if not for Devin Booker, Kevin Durant and his Suns teammates’ message to him: “Take your time. Make sure you’re 100%, we got it….We need you down the stretch.” pic.twitter.com/6E8muNA1QK
— PHNX Suns (@PHNX_Suns) December 11, 2023
Good news came down on Monday, though, as it was announced that Beal had been taken off of the Suns injury report and that he was good to play in Tuesday’s matchup with the Golden State Warriors. With Booker back in the lineup, it looked as though we would finally get our first glimpse at Phoenix’s new big three.
But as luck would have it, Durant is now dealing with an ankle ailment, and will miss his fourth game of the season so far.
The presence of Beal and Booker are enough to make the Suns the favorites in their contest against the Warriors. They are listed as 1.5 point favorites, a spread which was up to 3.5 when Durant was still listed as questionable.
The Suns are currently 12-10 and are in 9th place in the Western Conference, and will need to pick up some wins soon in order to help their standing. Including the contest against the Warriors, three of Phoenix’s next five opponents are teams that are currently under .500.
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