Phoenix Suns coach Mike Budenholzer gave an injury update on Suns star guard Bradley Beal, who has missed four-straight games with a left hamstring strain, following practice Tuesday.
"He's doing court work. No, he will not play tomorrow (against the Boston Celtics)," Budenholzer said ( via PHNX's Gerald Bourguet). "He's ramping up his court work. We feel like he's making good progress. I think he's like 9-10 days out (from suffering the injury).
"The next few days are big, and we'll just see how he progresses each day."
"We feel like he's making good progress....The next few days are big, and we'll just see how he progresses each day."
— Gerald Bourguet (@GeraldBourguet) March 25, 2025
Mike Budenholzer said Bradley Beal is ramping up his court work, but he will not play tomorrow against the Celtics and has not done any 5-on-5 work yet pic.twitter.com/Lq2NyCHTHU
Beal originally injured himself during last Sunday's loss to the Los Angeles Lakers and has now missed a total of 24 games on the year. The veteran has been sidelined by four different injuries since January.
The Suns (35-37) have a decision to make when Beal does return to the lineup, as they have won all four of the games he has missed since the Lakers loss. Collin Gillespie has provided a lot of defense and energy at the starting point guard spot with Beal out.
As starters...
— Rod Argent (@rodargent1) March 25, 2025
Collin Gillespie leads the Suns in OffRtg (124.2) and NetRtg (10.4) & is 4th in DefRtg.
Tyus Jones is 9th in OffRtg (112.7), 7th in DefRtg (116.0) & 8th in NetRtg (-3.4).
Bradley Beal is 13th in OffRtg (109.9), 11th in DefRtg (119.9) & 12th in NetRtg (-10.0).
Along with Gillespie, Ryan Dunn, Cody Martin and Oso Ighodaro have all given the Suns a huge spark as of late with increased minutes.
Before Monday's win over the Milwaukee Bucks, Budenholzer provided some clarity on what the rotation will look like moving forward, as Nick Richards, Grayson Allen and Mason Plumlee all returned from injuries against Milwaukee.
"Everybody says having a lot of options is supposed to be a good thing, and it is," Budenholzer said. "I think we gotta trust everybody on the roster, but lean into the guys that have been playing well, particularly defensively.
"I think we just need to try and find the right combo, find the right mix each night."
Every game is important for the Suns moving forward, as they are tied with the Dallas Mavericks for the final play-in spot with 10 games remaining and 0.5 games back of the Sacramento Kings for the ninth seed in the West.
Tomorrow, they will have a chance to extend their winning streak to five and build more momentum against the defending-champion Celtics. Boston will likely be without Jayson Tatum, who rolled his ankle during Boston's win over the Kings Monday.
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