Here is what we are seeing at Footprint Center before the Phoenix Suns take on the Portland Trail Blazers at 7 p.m. MST:
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- Bradley Beal (right knee swelling) is set to miss his second straight game and 10th this season. He sustained the injury before the Suns faced the Utah Jazz on Friday, popping up on the injury report pregame and ultimately sitting out.
- Robert Williams III (return to competition reconditioning) is available after being listed as questionable. Former Sun Deandre Ayton (illness) and Matisse Thybulle (right ankle sprain) are both out. Ayton was not with the Blazers when they lost to the San Antonio Spurs on Friday, and will not make a possible return to the Valley.
Pregame quotes
Suns coach Mike Budenholzer
On whether Beal’s workload has been discussed: “I mean, the communication with the medical staff is great; constant and really good. And with Brad, I’d put him into the mix, but no. I think some of this stuff has just kind of come out of nowhere and I can’t remember everything that’s happened this year, but some of it just seems like it’s been a little bit of bad luck, so lessening his workload or lessening his minutes or anything like that has not been discussed. I think we’re always trying to be mindful of our guys and trying to keep them healthy, but generally speaking, his workload, his minutes, everything, are not something that we feel is something that we need to change.
On Royce O’Neale’s impact: He’s always a guy who brings a defensive mindset, takes a lot of the tough covers and can play up in size a little bit. He just does a lot of little things that go into winning on both ends of the court. He’s been good and we’ll need him tonight.
Trail Blazers coach Chauncey Billups
On defending Kevin Durant: “Well, it’s impossible to do that. Okay, this is Kevin Durant. They obviously have a lot of great players on their team, but that’s Kevin Durant. There’s going to be innate gravity pulling towards him, no matter what our schemes are, no matter what our coverages are. When he has the basketball, you kind of forget about who else is out there because he draws that type of attention. It requires some discipline to be able to understand and know it’s Kevin right there, and then [Devin] Booker is right there, another great player. You pick your poison a lot of times, and you just compete against them as hard as you can. You just want them to earn their points because they’re going to get them. They’ve gotten them against everybody, and they’ll get some again tonight. But you want them to earn them. You just don’t want it to be easy for them.”
On Tyus Jones: “I’ve been a huge, huge fan of Tyus for years. Man, for years. I just think that he makes everybody better. He plays with a level of humility that you love from your point guard. He’s so smart, so crafty. This situation is tailor-made for him. It really is. He’s a big shot-maker when put in those positions, but he knows who he is, more than anything. He knows who he’s playing with, and that’s what they need. I think he’s tailored for this situation. But I’ve been a huge, huge fan of Tyus. He’s also a very scrappy defender. He doesn’t get a lot of credit for that, but a lot of teams attack him and go after him, and you have a fight on your hands when you do that. I’m proud and happy for Ty and they did it right when they got him.”
Starting lineups
Portland Trail Blazers starting lineup vs. Phoenix Suns
Anfernee Simons
Shaedon Sharpe
Toumani Camara (Former Suns draft pick)
Jerami Grant
Donovan Clingan#SunsUp #NBA #RipCity— Burn City Suns ☀️ (@BurnCitySuns) December 16, 2024
Phoenix Suns starting lineup vs. Portland Trail Blazers
Tyus Jones
Devin Booker
Royce O'Neale
Kevin Durant
Jusuf Nurkić#SunsUp #NBA #RipCity— Burn City Suns ☀️ (@BurnCitySuns) December 16, 2024
Suns’ Bradley Beal sidelined for 10th game of season with injury
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Reporter Alec Cipollini covers the Phoenix Suns, ASU Athletics and more for Burn City Sports. You can follow him on his X account, @AlecCipollini
