As has so often been the case this season, the Phoenix Suns endured a low point after running off a three game win streak on Monday, as they fell 104-102 to the San Antonio Spurs. A defeat may even worse by the fact rookie sensation Victor Wembanyama didn’t even suit up for the Spurs.
Given that the Suns have one of the toughest remaining schedules left in the league – and the fact they had already beaten the same opponent a couple of nights prior – this loss sure looks like a costly one. The Suns are now eighth in the Western Conference, and a date with the play-in tournament may end up being the outcome of this regular season.
To make matters worse on a forgettable night, the Suns also watched as two of their starting five went down with injury in this game.
The first to depart was center Jusuf Nurkic, who it was revealed after the game had suffered a sprained ankle after rolling it on the foot of Jeremy Sochan of the Spurs. This limited Nurkic to only 19 minutes of action, and it is fair to point out that the outcome could have been different here, had he been on the court in crunch time.
Nurkic rolled his ankle on Sochans foot here pic.twitter.com/3tZPRQJQlu
β Cage (@ridiculouscage) March 26, 2024
Nurkic has been a pillar of consistency for the Suns this season, but he may just have gotten injured at the worst time for this group. Although we recently examined why opponents will target him in the postseason – during the regular season at least – he has been exactly what this team have needed to win games.
It is unclear at this point if Nurkic had an x-ray on ths ankle but either way, head coach Frank Vogel is sure to be cautious with Nurkic for the next few games, even if he is cleared and good to go. Nurkic going down meant backup center Drew Eubanks had to play 21 minutes, with his two points and six boards highlighting the difference in output when he is on the court.
Just as bad as the Suns’ starting center hobbling off was the sight of Bradley Beal once again on getting hurt on a seemingly random play. It appeared to happen late in the fourth-quarter, when Beal caught a rebound and passed the ball, with coach Vogel explaining to the media in the aftermath that it was a finger sprain, and that an x-ray had come back negative.
