Suns guard Bradley Beal suffered another injury on Friday night, as he left his team’s game against the Knicks with a sprained right ankle in the first quarter and did not return. After the game, Phoenix coach Frank Vogel said Beal’s X-Rays came back negative.
Beal’s injury occurred when his right foot got twisted as he landed on Knicks guard Donte DiVincenzo’s left foot after shooting a three-pointer. DiVincenzo initially was called for a Flagrant 1 foul on the play as the refs determined he was in Beal’s landing space during the shot, but the call was overturned upon video review.
Beal has battled injuries in recent years, as he’s missed at least 22 games in each of the previous three seasons. This year, Beal has played in only six of the Suns’ 25 games after Phoenix traded for him in the offseason to pair with Kevin Durant and Devin Booker.
Rick Scuteri/USA Today network
The Suns’ new big three had high hopes entering the season, but they have yet to gel as injuries continue to be a nuisance for the team. Booker has missed nine games this year, while Durant has missed five, as the three played in their first game together in Wednesday night’s loss to the Nets and have only played together for 24 total minutes.
After the game, Booker addressed how frustrating Beal’s injury was.
“Super unfortunate,” Booker said, via Duane Rankin of The Arizona Republic. “Been waiting on him to get back. Uncontrollable incident. Hate to see it.”
On the season, Beal is averaging 14.7 points in 25.2 minutes per game as he’s tried to find his role with his new team. Phoenix lost to the Knicks, 139–122, dropping the team to 13–12 and 10th place in the Western Conference.
The Suns host the Wizards (4–20) in their next game on Sunday at 8 p.m. ET, in what would be Beal’s first game against his old team if he can play.
