Suns guard Devin Booker (calf) remains unavailable for Friday’s in-season tournament game vs. the Lakers, as Duane Rankin of The Arizona Republic tweets.
Shams Charania of The Athletic reported earlier this week that the Suns are optimistic about getting Booker back at some point during their three-game home stand, which begins tonight. While Charania suggested a Friday return was a possibility, it appears that’s not in the cards — Phoenix’s home stand continues with games on Sunday (vs. Oklahoma City) and Wednesday (vs. Minnesota) before the club heads back out on the road.
Here are a few more injury-related notes from around the NBA:
- Nets wing Cameron Johnson (calf) will be available on Friday in Boston for the first time since opening night, per Brian Lewis of The New York Post (Twitter links). However, Ben Simmons will remain on the shelf for a second consecutive game due to left hip soreness.
- Celtics big man Al Horford, who didn’t play both ends of back-to-back sets last season, will be held out of Friday’s game, which is part of the team’s first back-to-back of 2023/24, notes Jay King of The Athletic (Twitter link). However, Horford’s frontcourt partner Kristaps Porzingis says he intends to play both Friday and Saturday, tweets Adam Himmelsbach of The Boston Globe. Boston is listing Horford as out due to right knee injury management.
- Kings star De’Aaron Fox will be unavailable for Friday’s in-season tournament game vs. Oklahoma City, as Jason Anderson of The Sacramento Bee tweets. It’s the fifth straight contest Fox has missed as a result of his sprained right ankle.
- While Magic wing Gary Harris missed his third consecutive game due to a right groin strain on Thursday, Markelle Fultz returned from the left knee ailment that cost him three games and reclaimed his spot in the starting lineup (Twitter link). Orlando didn’t appear to have any restrictions on Fultz during the Mexico City showcase — his 29 minutes were right in line with season average.