When the Suns assembled their new Big 3 last year, the expectations were sky-high. And they are a lethal combination whenever they are on the floor together. But the problem is, that does not happen very often. Yes, the trio only played 40 games together last season. The rest of the time, at least one of Devin Booker, Bradley Beal, or Kevin Durant was dealing with an injury. Well, we are starting to sense the same scary pattern this season, as two of the three highlight the injury report for tomorrow’s OKC encounter.

As per the latest report, Kevin Durant will continue to remain sidelined because of the left calf strain he suffered during last week’s Mavs game. He’s been ruled out at least for another week! Obviously, that is a massive blow for Mike Budenholzer’s squad as KD was averaging 27.6 points. Sure enough, the team has struggled in his absence as they’ve already lost two of the three games he has missed.

The Suns’ concerns for tomorrow’s NBA Cup group stage encounter are only going to increase because Bradley Beal will also miss his 2nd straight game dealing with a left calf strain. Well, the issue cropped up during the recent Jazz game where he abruptly left midway through the fourth quarter. “(Calf) Just got tight on me. I think it was probably lingering from the knee injury last game,” Beal admitted post-game. Of course, his absence leaves an even bigger void in their offense, as he was averaging 26 points in KD’s absence.

Meanwhile, Collin Gillespie (right ankle fracture) remains out and Jusuf Nurkic has been deemed questionable with a left ankle sprain after returning from a one-game hiatus last night. And Grayson Allen is also questionable because of a right hamstring soreness.

Can Devin Booker keep the Suns’ NBA Cup hopes alive?

With KD and Bradley Beal out, all eyes will be on Devin Booker. Sure enough, he has not missed a game so far and is averaging 23.3 points and nearly 7 assists. But he wasn’t able to find his groove in the last game without his 2 superstar teammates and finished with only 18 points. And the hoopster even addressed where he went wrong, after the loss, saying, “They were putting two on the ball every time. I could’ve did a better job through the night of not trying to force it and get off it and trust my teammates a little bit more.”

Yes, now that Devin Booker is the only major offensive threat, opponents will try to pressure him with double teams. And Mike Budenholzer needs to find a strategy to overcome this issue. The Suns have already won an NBA Cup group stage encounter, which was the Utah Jazz game earlier this week. And they did it without Kevin Durant and Bradley Beal, who left in the final quarter.

Sure enough, the Suns would expect Booker to have a heroic performance for a similar outcome tomorrow. Do you think he can do it?

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