Zion Williamson injury shows why Phoenix Suns wanted to avoid NBA play-in tournament

The Phoenix Suns concluded their second practice Wednesday before heading to Minneapolis for Saturday’s Game 1 against the Minnesota Timberwolves in the first round the Western Conference playoffs.

The Suns (49-33) avoided the play-in tournament because they had the head-to-head tiebreaker over the Pelicans (49-33) to land the sixth seed.

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New Orleans wound up having to host the Lakers in the 7-8 game Tuesday night and lost, 110-106. Now the Pelicans must beat Sacramento on Friday in New Orleans for the eighth seed, but will be without Zion Williamson, who injured his hamstring in the fourth quarter.

The Suns would’ve been in that play-in position had the Pelicans beat the Lakers in the final regular season game. With 50 wins, New Orleans would've finished a game ahead of Phoenix for the sixth seed.

Staying fresh for the playoffs

“You can say that because of everything that happened, but the chips fall the way they fall,” Suns guard Bradley Beal said. “If we were in that position, just have to be ready to go and duke it out. At the same time, you do want to try to avoid those extra games, those extra mileage on your body, that wear and tear and prevent the opportunity of getting injured.”

After Sunday’s win at Minnesota, Suns coach Frank Vogel gave reasons for why they looked to avoid a play-in situation with one being suffering an injury in a play-in game.

“We wanted to finish in the top six to avoid the possibility,” Vogel said. “We would've been confident to play in a play-in game, but you avoid the possibility of bad shooting or a rolled ankle changing the fate of your season. We were motivated to play all 82. It was going to take all 82."

Now the Pelicans will play a win-or-go-home game without their best player who strained his left hamstring late in the 7-8 play-in game.

Brutal break for Williamson

“It sucks that happened, but stuff like that happens in basketball,” Suns forward Royce O’Neale said. “Team could’ve gotten hot or something. It’s unfortunate to see and hopefully, he comes back strong.”

Posting 40 points, 11 rebounds and five assists in 36 minutes Tuesday, Williamson will be re-evaluated in two weeks.

“You never want that to happen, but that’s part of the game,” Beal said. “That could’ve happened Game 1 of the playoffs. I don’t really put too much emphasis on that. He was competing his ass off and attacking the basket. If he didn’t go down, it probably would’ve been a different outcome, but that’s how the game is.”

Phoenix not only landed the sixth seed, but they will have had nearly a full week between Sunday’s final regular season game at Minnesota to Saturday’s Game 1 against the Timberwolves.

The Suns swept the T-Wolves in their regular season series, 3-0.

“I needed these days,” a smiling Beal said. “So like in hindsight, when you’re talking about the play-in, it would’ve been tough. I can just feel like our bodies, those last two games were like playoff games. They felt like Game 6 and Game 7 of playoff games. For your body to recoup after that. It’s like, OK, it felt like I got hit by a bus, let’s recoup. I’m glad we got a little week off, but at the same time, we actually got after it (Wednesday). Keep ourselves engaged.”

The Suns won their last three games of the regular season all on the road with the final two being a 108-107 comeback victory against the Kings and an 125-106 blasting of the T-Wolves.

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: Untimely Zion Williamson injury shows why Suns wanted to avoid play-in