Phoenix Suns head coach Jordan Ott provided updates on Devin Booker and Jalen Green following Friday’s 110-103 loss to the Atlanta Hawks, saying, “No, just same with Jalen. Just felt a little tightness just from precautionary reasons. Took him out. Didn’t come back. Get back to Phoenix and assess both of them.”
Ott described Booker’s ankle injury as “pretty unlucky,” noting, “Obviously you saw what happened to Book right ankle. Rolled it on someone else’s foot… we’ll just have to take a look when we get back to Phoenix.”
Despite the injuries, Ott praised his team’s effort: “I thought right there again in the third quarter, we really found it… the starters figured it out there in the third quarter and second unit was fantastic. The last five or six minutes was some of the best basketball we’ve played all year.”
On the challenge of losing two key players in a single game, Ott said, “Well, in a single game, yeah… you feel for them. Anytime someone gets injured, especially on a night where we were finally healthy… tough for his teammates, tough for him obviously.”
He added a note of cautious optimism regarding Green: “It’s precautionary with Jalen that maybe it’s not as bad as as it possibly could be because he didn’t need help getting off the court… we’ll take a look, see what happens. Hope for the best.”
Ott also analyzed Phoenix’s fourth-quarter struggles without Booker: “Somewhere in between… 12 points obviously is not great. We did get decent looks… at times you’re just trying to find solutions… we tried some different things… weren’t able to figure it out, but we’ll definitely take a look.”
Atlanta overcame a late third-quarter deficit after Booker left the game. Jalen Johnson recorded 23 points and a career-tying 18 rebounds for his 30th double-double, while Onyeka Okongwu added 25 points. CJ McCollum contributed 21 points off the bench.
The Suns shot 44% overall and 32% from three, with Dillon Brooks scoring 11 points and Collin Gillespie adding 16. Booker had 31 points before exiting, but Phoenix could not recover without their star guard.
Atlanta outscored Phoenix 26-12 in the fourth quarter, shooting 50% overall and 50% from beyond the arc, improving to 22-25, while the Suns fell to 27-18.
The Hawks return home Monday to host the Indiana Pacers, and the Suns will host the Miami Heat on Sunday.
