The return of All-Star guard Devin Booker brings the Phoenix Suns as close to whole as they are likely to be down the stretch, and barring further injuries should finally give them a chance to take a good look at their projected starting backcourt of Booker and Jalen Green.
The two are expected to be in the same starting lineup for only the fourth time this season when the host Suns entertain the slumping Chicago Bulls on Thursday.
“We’re doing it on the fly, but it’s exciting,” Suns coach Jordan Ott said after Booker and Green combined for 37 points and six 3-pointers in a 114-103 victory at Sacramento on Tuesday.
“Seeing those guys play together … we’ve been thinking about that a lot, and I’m sure they have, too. Getting both of those guys on the court (helps), but now we have to put it into action.”
The Bulls, who have had their share of lineup disruptions, enter after a 116-108 loss to Oklahoma City on Tuesday, their sixth loss in a seven-game homestand after going 0-for-February.
The Bulls parted with eight players at the trade deadline and may be without leading scorers Matas Buzelis and Josh Giddey against the Suns after both left the Thunder game with ankle injuries.
“We can beat teams like that,” said Buzelis, who is averaging 15.3 points a game. “We just have to be on the same page. As you’ve seen before, we always have way too many turnovers. If we eliminate that, we can execute in games.”
Giddey is averaging 17.7 points, 8.4 assists and 8.2 rebounds.
The Suns, seventh in the Western Conference, are in a stretch in which they could make up ground on the sixth-place Lakers. After Chicago, they finish a homestand against New Orleans and Charlotte before meeting Milwaukee and Indiana in the first two of a six-game trip.
“We’re kind of a first-year team,” Booker said, “so we’re trying not to make the same mistakes we made before the All-Star break. We obviously want to be in the playoffs and not the play-in. We’re just going to try to win every game.”
Green led the Suns with 20 points, including a pair of 3-pointers, against the Kings while making his eighth start in a season that was disrupted by hamstring and hip injuries.
Booker had 17 points and hit four 3-pointers in Sacramento in his return from hip and ankle injuries that caused him to miss the previous four games and 12 of the previous 15.
“Nothing better than playing basketball, man,” Booker said. “It’s tough watching from the side. It feels like I’ve been off a month.”
The preseason plan regarding Booker and Green was to have “one of them on the floor at all times,” Ott said. “We’ll see what we have moving forward. In the meantime, we have developed solutions to some things we didn’t fully anticipate.”
Booker, Green and NBA Most Improved Player candidate Collin Gillespie played 31 minutes apiece when the Suns started a three-guard lineup against Sacramento, with guard Grayson Allen (18 points) in reserve.
Reserve center Oso Ighodaro, whose quickness and mobility have made him a good fit in Ott’s system, had 14 points and a career-high 14 rebounds off the bench in Sacramento. It was his third double-double, all in the last eight games.
“It’s good to have (Booker) out there,” Ighodaro said. “Just how much attention he has on him and how unselfish he is, makes our offense run that much smoother.”
