'He makes this thing go': Phoenix Suns guard Devin Booker doubtful for Sunday's OKC game

Phoenix Suns star guard Devin Booker is listed as doubtful for Sunday’s matchup against Oklahoma City at Footprint Center.

That’s an upgrade from being ruled out as Booker has missed Phoenix’s last four games with a right calf strain suffered in last week’s loss to San Antonio.

“He’s doing some light shooting, got a little bit into our team drill work,” Suns coach Frank Vogel said. “So getting closer.”

Bradley Beal is listed as probable with low back spasms while Eric Gordon is questionable with left shoulder soreness.

Booker had been sidelined three games with a left ankle sprain that occurred late in the season opener at Golden State before returning against the Spurs. The three-time All-Star went into the matchup against the Warriors with a sore left big toe he jammed in practice a week earlier.

“He makes this thing go,” Suns superstar Kevin Durant said. “Without him, we can’t go where we want to go. He just puts so much on defenses and he guards one through four. So we miss him. Can’t wait to have him back. I know he’s chomping at the bit, but he’s going to take his time to get healthy.”

Without Booker, the Suns (4-5) folded in the fourth quarter of Friday’s 122-119 loss to the Los Angeles Lakers at home in their first NBA In-Season Tournament game in group play.

The Lakers hit five 3s during a 19-2 run to put them ahead, 105-98, with 7:05 left in the game as Cam Reddish started it with a deep one to end the third quarter.

“We weren’t anywhere near where we want to be,” Vogel said. “Too many breakdowns of our coverages that we work on.”

Then Reddish nailed his fifth 3 in the game to give the Lakers an 118-113 advantage with 1:10 remaining on a possession they kept alive with three offensive rebounds.

“No excuse,” Suns big Jusuf Nurkic said. “The one I expected, I should grab it, but I didn’t. Do better next time.”

The Lakers (4-5) came into the game with the worst 3-point shooting percentage in the NBA at 29.6%, but nailed 12-of-27 against the Suns.

Phoenix is allowing teams to shoot 35.1% on 3s so far this season.

“I think the intention of trying to help your teammates, but sometimes, we overhelped and they were able to give us some threes,” said Durant after Friday’s game.

LeBron James kept forcing the Suns to commit to him on drives, thus leaving his teammates wide open for threes.

“We finally were able to make one of those momentum shots,” James said. “Once that momentum shot opened, I feel like the flood gates started and guys really started knocking down. We were knocking those 3-point balls down and things of that nature.”

The Suns have been outscored in the fourth quarter in four of their five losses.

100-95 loss at Lakers – 5-of-20 FGs (1-of-8 from 3). Outscored 28-11.

115-114 loss vs. Spurs – 7-of-20 FGs (2-of-10 from 3). Outscored 33-19.

132-121 loss vs. Spurs – 11-of-23 FGs (3-of-7 from 3). Outscored Spurs 32-29.

112-100 loss at 76ers – 4-of-19 FGs (2-of-10 from 3). Outscored 32-25.

122-119 loss vs. Lakers – 9-of-20 FGs (3-of-8 from 3). Outscored 33-23.

“We missing some supermax players,” Nurkic said about Booker and Bradley Beal. “It’s as simple as is. When you have that level of players and they’re not available, you’re going to struggle some minutes. Fourth quarter got to be better, especially with (Durant and Beal) back. KD, playing the way he play, it’s not like you’re looking for an excuse, but at the same time, we know we’ve got to be healthy the way we want to play.”

Nurkic concluded by saying, “we should’ve won” Friday’s game.

Durant has began the fourth quarter on the bench as he did Friday night, but Vogel started Beal to begin the quarter in Beal's second game with the Suns.

Vogel called two timeouts during the Lakers surge, but Phoenix was void of any answers.

“We weren’t aggressive enough,” Beal said after the game. “I think we were very lackadaisical. We were on our heels. They came out and pressed us, they came out real aggressive and that’s the gist of it. They came out and hit first and we didn’t respond until a little bit later.”

Beal missed Phoenix's first seven regular season games with low back issues.

He scored 20 points in the first half Friday, but only delivered four on 2-of-7 shooting from the field in the second half.

Beal was wearing a back brace after Saturday’s practice as he took a hard fall in the first half trying a follow dunk.

“It’s for him to move around,” Vogel said about the brace. “Had some expected soreness in the game from the other night, but he’s feeling pretty good.”

Have opinions about 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: Phoenix Suns guard Devin Booker listed as doubtful for Sunday's OKC game