After being out five games with a sprained ankle, Bradley Beal will be back on the court for the Suns on Friday night against Charlotte, a return a little ahead of schedule. His return, rumored for a few days, was confirmed by the Suns Friday morning.
INJURY UPDATE: Bradley Beal is available for tonight's game. pic.twitter.com/A1x3HQ86nT
— Phoenix Suns (@Suns) December 29, 2023
This will be Beal’s seventh game of the season and just the third where Beal, Kevin Durant and Devin Booker are all on the court together. Beal averaged 14.7 points a game this season, but he has not had enough time to find a rhythm with his new teammates.
The Suns have been stumbling of late, having dropped 6-of-9, with Durant reportedly frustrated by the injuries and lack of depth on this roster. Durant (like Booker, Beal, and everyone else on the Suns) pictured this roster as a contender, but they sit at .500 (15-15) and as the 10 seed in the West. Injuries have played a role, but they have not been a top-10 offense or defense this season and are not striking fear in the hearts of the Nuggets or anyone else at the top of the conference.
There is still two-thirds of a season to change that, and that change has to start with the Suns’ big three being on the court together for an extended period of time. That may not be enough looking at everything around them and the rest of the West, but for Phoenix it has to start there.
