Suns vs. Nets Tuesday NBA injury report, odds: Devin Booker set at 20.5 points, will play limited minutes in return
The Suns will welcome back Devin Booker from injury for Tuesday's game in Brooklyn
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The Phoenix Suns lost out in their push to acquire All-Star guard Kyrie Irving via trade, but the Suns will welcome back their own All-Star guard from a groin injury on Tuesday. Devin Booker will suit up against Irving's former team, the Brooklyn Nets. Booker will be on a minutes restriction so I'm a bit surprised any books are listing an over/under point total for him, but Caesars has Booker at 20.5 points with the Under a slight favorite. The Suns are 5.5-point favorites.
We last saw Booker play just four minutes on Christmas in Denver before leaving with the groin issue. In his last full game, Booker scored 58 points on Dec. 17 vs. New Orleans. For the season, he's averaging 27.1 points, 5.6 assists and 4.6 rebounds per game. Those are All-Star numbers, but Booker wasn't named to the Western Conference team in large part because of his injury absence. I'd expect him to be an injury replacement for either Zion Williamson or Stephen Curry.
Phoenix is 11-15 without Booker this season, averaging 108.8 points per game. With him, the Suns are 18-11 and averaging 116.0 PPG. Phoenix went into free-fall right after the Christmas injury but has since won eight of 10 and sits in sixth place in the West.
It's not clear what exactly what Booker's minutes restriction entails for Tuesday's game. Suns coach Monty Williams also had Cameron Johnson on a restriction in his recent return from injury. For reference, Johnson played 22 minutes in his first game back on Jan. 19 – also against Brooklyn – after missing more than two months. Of course, all injuries are different.
Now at 1,045 career 3-pointers, Booker needs seven more to pass Steve Nash and claim first place on the franchise's all-time 3-point field goal list.
Chris Paul, who was offered to Brooklyn in a potential Irving trade, is one steal shy of 2,500 for his career, and he will join Hall of Famers Jason Kidd, John Stockton and Michael Jordan as the only players in NBA history with 2,500+ career steals.
The Nets played their first game post-Irving deal on Monday and pushed the Clippers before fading late for a 124-116 loss despite a 47-point effort from Cam Thomas. Thomas also dropped 44 on Saturday in a win over Washington. He became the fourth player age 21 or younger with more than 90 points in a two-game span in NBA history, joining LeBron James (twice), Booker (twice) and Allen Iverson.
Neither Spencer Dinwiddie nor Dorian Finney-Smith, acquired from the Mavericks for Irving, were cleared in time to play. It's still unclear if they will be available against the Suns. Ben Simmons sat out Monday with a minor injury but says he will play against Phoenix. Seth Curry was out Monday and will remain sidelined.
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