Suns' Bradley Beal returns from injury, gets ejected after exchange with Rockets' Jalen Green

Phoenix Suns star guard Bradley Beal returned for Saturday's game against Houston at Footprint Center after missing the team's previous five games with a left hamstring injury, but was ejected after an exchange with Rockets guard Jalen Green in the second half.

The Suns lost, 118-109, as Beal finished the game with seven points in 20 minutes of action.

Beal and Green were talking to each other as Beal looked to inbound the ball with 7:09 left in the third quarter. Beal appeared to tap the ball off Green's head while still holding the ball. Beal received the first technical foul for this action after the play was reviewed.

"They fouled the hell out of him going to the basket," Suns coach Frank Vogel said as Green was guarding Beal on a drive on the play before the inbounds. "That's no excuse for Bradley to do that, but if you call the first foul, that stuff doesn't happen."

Beal inbounded the ball to Devin Booker as Green put his hand on Beal's chest. Beal responded by slapping Green's hand away. Then Beal went high at Green with a forearm. Green shoved him back and that led to security and Rockets coaches coming onto the court to break up the two.

Beal got his second technical foul for the shove and Green drew his tech for the shove back.

"You can do so much talking, it's the NBA, but if you yelling at somebody's face, that's a whole different dynamic," said Suns wing Royce O'Neale as Green yelled in Beal's face right before Beal tapped the ball off Green's head and inbounded the ball. "We're not going to tolerate that. He stood his ground. We got his back."

Booker grabbed Green from behind to keep him from approaching Beal. After review, Beal received two technical fouls and was ejected with Houston leading, 72-57. Green also received a technical foul, but stayed in the game.

Crew chief David Guthrie explained the technical fouls and ejection for Beal and tech on Green, who he said was in the proper defensive position on the inbounds even though Green was very close to Beal on it.

Q: Why did Bradley Beal get the first technical foul?

A: Beal received the first technical foul for a physical taunt with the basketball to Green.

Q: Why did he get the second technical?

A: Beal received the second technical foul for aggressively shoving Green in an unsportsmanlike manner.

Q:: Why did Jalen Green get the technical foul?

A: Green received a technical foul for his aggressive shove back at Beal.

Suns superstar Kevin Durant said he didn't even realized Beal was ejected until the fourth quarter.

"I didn't even see it," said Durant about Beal's exchange with Green. "I didn't even know Brad got throw out until like the fourth quarter. I thought he was just in the back. I thought somebody else got the tech. I was wondering why (the Rockets) shot a free throw and we didn't."

The Suns were trailing, 72-57, at the time of Beal's ejection. After Rockets guard Fred VanVleet hit the technical free throw, Phoenix went on a 12-0 run pull slice Houston's lead to four with 4:28 left in the third.

"It was a quick play, you try to move on, and keep the momentum in our hands," Durant continued. "We had momentum at that time. I think that gave us a little spark, too. Even though we missed Brad, it gave us a little spark."

The Rockets responded to Phoenix's run with a 12-2 burst to push their lead back up to 14 points as they went into the fourth leading, 89-79.

"You've got to give Houston credit," Durant added. "They came out with a lot of urgency to start the game and they was able to cruise to a win."

Beal finished the game with seven points, all coming in the first half, on 3-of-6 shooting in 20 minutes of action. This was Beal's first game since Jan. 13 when he injured the hamstring against the Sacramento Kings at Footprint Center.

"Stacked together some good days over the last week, through (NBA All-Star) break," Beal said before the game. "It's in a good spot right now."

Beal came into Saturday's game averaging 18.2 points in 30 games in his first year with the Suns (35-25) but has missed 29 games this season with multiple injuries.

"The biggest thing is kind of increasing the volume and increasing the intensity of things without it feeling I'm about to go the length I don't want to go," Beal said.

Beal scored the first basket for the Suns in Saturday's game.

"And then sprinting. I'm a strider so just being able to make sure I can get my full range of motion and things in the last few days have been that," Beal continued. "Wanted to build some consistency in that and not just get caught up in one day thing, feel good, and then a setback. We built up a few days and we're confident where we're at now."

Beal said he felt mentally close to returning after the All-Star break, but physically wasn't quite right.

"My body was like, nope, pump the brakes a little bit," Beal said.

Better safe than sorry.

"That's what's frustrating, "Beal said. "If it's an ankle, I'm out there. Hamstring is definitely a tricky one. You got to be super smart about it, cautious with it too, because those things can sit you down. I've had them before in the past. I've had my fair share of sitdowns. I know what it's like to fully pull and tear. Gratefully, we haven't had that. We're in a good spot."

The three-time All-Star is on a minute range and did get the start Saturday. The Suns are now 14-9 with their Big 3 of Devin Booker, Kevin Durant and Beal in the starting lineup.

Beal had a procedure done on his broken nose during the break and coming out of it, he was scheduled to still wear a mask, but didn't have one on to start Saturday's game. Beal had his nose broken in January at Indiana.

Eric Gordon remained out with left groin soreness as did Nassir Little with left knee inflammation.

The Suns play Oklahoma City on Sunday in the second of a home back-to-back.

Have opinions about the current state of the Suns? Reach Suns Insider Duane Rankin at dmrankin@gannett.com or contact him at 480-787-1240. Follow him on X, formerly Twitter, at @DuaneRankin.

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This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Suns' Bradley Beal gets ejected in first game back from injury