Suns Unexpectedly Lose Starter Ahead of Lakers Game

Phoenix Suns guard Grayson Allen was suddenly ruled out ahead of game time against the Los Angeles Lakers due to illness.

Allen, who has been dealing with a quad contusion, did not initially appear on the team's injury report earlier - and now the Suns will suddenly be down a key player in their rotation.

Collin Gillespie likely gets the start in Allen's place. Ryan Dunn, dealing with a wrist injury, will play tonight.

Opening tip is slated for 8:00 PM MST.

More on Grayson Allen

Allen has seen a strong surge to start the 2025-26 season, shooting 46.2% from three-point land this season while also showing capability to slash to the rim when needed, too.

Allen, who missed over two weeks' worth of action due to the contusion, made his return in Saturday's loss to the Denver Nuggets, playing 26 minutes and adding 10 points, three assists and two steals.

This isn't the first time he's been on the injury report due to illness, as he dealt with the issue weeks ago against the Los Angeles Clippers but ultimately played.

He had missed the seven games prior to Saturday.

"The last couple of days where it's like, OK, he's making progress, but he's not out there with us," Suns coach Jordan Ott continued on Allen's contusion.

"He had swelling. We don't know exactly how long it was going to take. He's still in a good place. Just now we're not practicing, there are so many of these games you don't see him out there to go up and down, 5-on-5, but he did his stuff post shootaround today. The goal is to get him out there as fast as possible.

"It's hard when you have shootaround to really take reps away from the guys that are playing in the games. We're balancing that and as he progresses, he can do more and more."

Lakers Know Suns Bring Big Test

Ahead of tonight, Lakers coach JJ Redick offered this on facing Phoenix for the first time this season:

"We've got an incredible challenge tomorrow with Phoenix," he said on Sunday.

"Those guys are playing great basketball. They're coming off a couple of losses to two of the best teams in the NBA (Oklahoma City and Denver). They play hard. They have an identity. Tha't going to be a huge challenge."

The Lakers are 15-4 while the Suns are 12-9 to start the year.