Star guard Bradley Beal fully participated in the Suns‘ practice on Thursday, but he’s not quite ready to return from his back injury, writes Duane Rankin of The Arizona Republic. The team wants to get Beal some more practice reps before reinserting him into its lineup, according to head coach Frank Vogel.
“We want to see him stack together a few practices where he responds well,” Vogel said. “No timeline on how many that is or what that looks like, but we want to continue to make sure he’s responding well before we put him back in there. Stay away from being in and out.”
The shorthanded Suns will also be without Kevin Durant (left ankle sprain) and Grayson Allen (right groin strain) when they host Sacramento on Friday. However, as Rankin relays, Vogel referred to those injuries as “short-term” issues, suggesting Durant and Allen may not miss much – if any – additional time beyond Friday.
Here are a few more injury updates from around the NBA:
- As expected, Kristaps Porzingis appears poised to return for the Celtics after missing four games due to a strained left calf. He’s considered probable to play in Friday’s game vs. New York, according to the team (Twitter link).
[Note: Porzingis has since been upgraded to available.] - Pistons forward Joe Harris, who has been sidelined since November 5 due to a shoulder injury, has been upgraded to questionable for Friday’s game in Orlando, tweets Omari Sankofa II of The Detroit Free Press. Spacing has been an issue this season for the Pistons, who rank 28th in the NBA in three-pointers per game, so the return of Harris, a career 43.6% three-point shooter, could be a boon.
- Heat big man Bam Adebayo will miss a second consecutive game on Friday vs. Cleveland due to his left hip contusion, tweets Ira Winderman of The South Florida Sun Sentinel. Adebayo said earlier this week that he’s unsure about his return timeline.
- The Jazz are close to getting some lineup reinforcements. Jordan Clarkson (right thigh contusion), who has missed the past three games, and Kelly Olynyk (right shoulder strain), who has been out for two in a row, are listed as questionable for Friday vs. the Clippers. Lauri Markkanen (left hamstring strain) will be unavailable for a seventh straight contest, but was a full practice participant on Thursday and just has to tick a couple more boxes before being cleared to return, Sarah Todd of The Deseret News explains.
So Celts outshot the Knicks, and thus we won the game, from three, making 19 of them vs their 15, although it took us ten more shots.
But in the also very key# of OFFENSIVE REBOUNDS, Knicks beat us 12 to 8. Not good. And our starters only got three. Maybe it’s our subs job now, winning by getting offensive rebounds! They got five. And our best offensive rebounder, it seems, Neemias Queta, didn’t play. Hope he works his way into the rotation.
But we won the critical TURNOVER GAME! YAY, Celts only made 7 turnovers!
Thank you Jason and Jaylen!
Go Celtics!
Great poster above-C’s have the trade exemption that fits PERFECTLY for Drummond-what on earth.
C’s/do gooder Stevens have this rockin’ and rollin,’ but they’re too thin, clearly, and the payroll is just ridiculous now. Only gig I can think of is the plan would’ve been across the “Buy out” market in Febr.