Phoenix Suns being cautious about Devin Booker's return from left groin strain
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Phoenix Suns coach Monty Williams doesn’t have an exact date for Devin Booker’s re-evaluation of a left groin strain, but he didn’t suggest his All-Star guard will be ready to play anytime soon.
“We’ve got a lot of boxes to check before he can even approach that,” Williams said before Sunday’s game against the Grizzlies. “He’s had non-contact practices, but that’s not the same as getting beat up a little bit and playing in 3-on-3, 4-on-4, 5-on-5, playing in three-minute spurts, which is on average what you do in a game before there is a whistle. Between 2 ½ and three minutes, that’s where you build your conditioning, endurance to get back on the floor and play the way we play. He hasn’t done that yet.”
Booker strained his groin in the first quarter of Phoenix’s Christmas loss at Denver. The Suns sent out a release Dec. 28 that Booker would be re-evaluated in four weeks.
Based on that date, Booker could be evaluated Wednesday. The Suns (24-24) are 6-13 without Booker as he sat for Sunday’s win against Memphis (31-15). He first missed two games with left hamstring tightness.
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Booker returned for two games as he scored a season-high 58 points in a Dec. 17 win over New Orleans. He sat the next three games with groin soreness before returning for the Christmas game at Denver.
Booker re-aggravated his groin within the first five minutes of that game and hasn't played since. Missing his 14th consecutive game Sunday against Memphis, Booker has been getting up shots and showing better movement in the last few days in practice.
“We can’t even think about when he’s going to get back on the floor,” Williams continued. “He’s ready, but we just have to be careful.”
Suns wing Torrey Craig said after Tuesday's shootaround that he thought Booker was looking to play "1s" or 1-on-1 at some point Tuesday.
"I think he's playing 1s today or something like that."
Torrey Craig on Devin Booker (groin) as he broke down importance of playing 1-on-1, 2-on-2 to returning.
"You just want to make sure you can do all your movements with no injury. You don't want to feel it at all." #Suns https://t.co/X64nMifhAv pic.twitter.com/86F1hevIUv— Duane Rankin (@DuaneRankin) January 24, 2023
"You just want to make sure you can do all your movements with no injury," Craig said. You don't want to feel it at all. You want to get back comfortable getting to your moves and doing the things that you do best. You can use 1s or playing 2-on-2 or full court to test yourself and kind of see where you're at. If all systems are go, then you're good. So hopefully he get through all those phases and be back as soon as possible."
Williams didn’t have any update on Cameron Payne, who hasn’t played since suffering a right foot sprain Jan. 4 at Cleveland. He has missed eight consecutive games after missing nine with a right foot strain.
“There’s nothing even to report,” Williams said.
On Tuesday, Suns officials said Payne will be re-evaluated again in a week.
Have opinion about current state of the Suns? Reach Suns Insider Duane Rankin at dmrankin@gannett.com or contact him at 480-787-1240. Follow him on Twitter at @DuaneRankin.
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This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Suns being cautious about Devin Booker's return from left groin strain
