The Phoenix Suns’ best run of the young season will continue Monday, after their first road victory but a more significant loss.
The Suns finished a home-and-home sweep of the Los Angeles Clippers with a 114-103 victory on the road Saturday, their fourth victory in five games.
But they will host the New Orleans Pelicans on Monday without guard Jalen Green, who aggravated a right hamstring injury in the final minutes of the first quarter Saturday and did not return.
The Pelicans, who lost their first six, had a two-game winning streak broken in a 126-119 loss at the San Antonio Spurs on Saturday despite Trey Murphy III’s 41 points, which tied a career high.
Green seemed to have cleared the injury hurdle in his season debut Thursday, when he scored 29 points in 23 minutes in a 115-102 victory over the Clippers after missing the first eight games of the regular season.
He left the game on Saturday with 22.3 seconds remaining in the first quarter after appearing to take a false step on a drive toward the basket. He finished with two points in seven minutes.
Green, acquired with Dillon Brooks in the trade that sent Kevin Durant to Houston, is expected to miss extended time.
“This team will have no excuses,” Suns coach Jordan Ott said. “We lace them up, go out and play.”
Green first suffered the injury in training camp before it flared up again in workouts on the Suns’ trip to Macao, China, for exhibition games against Brooklyn on Oct. 10 and 12. He did not play in any of the Suns’ four exhibition games, including those in China.
The injury flies in the face of his health history. Green had missed only six games with Houston in the last three seasons and played the full 82 in both 2023-24 and 2024-25.
“You just feel for him,” Ott said. “He worked so hard to get back.”
The Suns turned to Collin Gillespie and Grayson Allen to work alongside guard Devin Booker in Green’s previous absence. Allen started at small forward the last two games but likely will return to the backcourt.
Booker had 21 points, 10 rebounds and nine assists in the victory Saturday, one short of his first regular-season triple-double. Allen had 14 points and four 3-pointers, and Gillespie had 13 points and four threes off the bench. Brooks scored 16 points in his return after missing six games with a core muscle injury.
“He’s super tough,” center Mark Williams said of Gillespie. “Makes a lot of big shots. Does everything you want out of a guard.”
The Pelicans will not be at full strength, either. Starters Zion Williamson (hamstring), Jordan Poole (quad) and Yves Missi (illness) missed the San Antonio game, and Williamson and Poole are expected to be out for at least a week.
Murphy kept them in the game against the Spurs, making 15 of 22 field goal attempts and 5 of 11 threes. He also had nine rebounds.
“It was great and we needed it from him,” Pelicans coach Willie Green said. “He scored on every level (Saturday). He got to the free-throw line. He got to the paint. He shot the ball well.
“He rebounded the ball well, something that we’ve been talking about. We can see him starting to implement it.”
–Field Level Media
