The Phoenix Suns entered the fourth quarter of Friday night’s game against the Atlanta Hawks up by seven points. They lost that lead after losing guards Jalen Green and Devin Booker to injury.
Booker exited with a right ankle injury in the final seconds of the third quarter after piling up 31 points and five 3s to that point. Green played only four minutes and, as a precautionary measure, didn’t return to the game once he left in the first quarter with right hamstring tightness.
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The Hawks (22-25) mounted a comeback and won 110-103, putting a stop to a three-game Suns (27-18) win streak, as Phoenix’s six-game road trip came to a close in Atlanta.
The Hawks, who have now won 12 straight home games over the Suns, were paced by big man Onyeka Okongwu. He turned in 25 points, 5 rebounds, 5 assists and 2 steals. They also got 23 points and a career-high 18 rebounds from Jalen Johnson, as well as 21 bench points from CJ McCollum.
Booker’s scoring display stole the spotlight. That was, before he went down.
The four-time All-Star hurt his right ankle while stepping on the foot of the 6-foot-10, 240-pound Okongwu. Booker was running back down the court with his head turned toward Grayson Allen trying to save a loose ball from going out of bounds. As a result, he collided into Okongwu and hit the deck in pain.
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Booker grabbed at his ankle in agony. Suns guard Collin Gillespie helped Booker up off the hardwood, but the backcourt star needed some assistance to get off the floor.
As for Green, he was in his second game back after missing 33 consecutive outings with a right hamstring strain. Friday marked only his fourth game with the Suns since they acquired him while trading Kevin Durant to the Houston Rockets. He came off the bench, like he did on Tuesday in a win over the Philadelphia 76ers.
Green used a hesitation move to blow by Luke Kennard and get to the cup for an easy layup with 2:21 to go in the first quarter. The Hawks called a timeout, and Green appeared to shake his head as he walked to the bench. He was later ruled out with the designation, “precautionary right hamstring tightness.”
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The Suns have surprised with a strong start to the season. But losing Booker for any significant period of time could jeopardize their first-half success.
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